The Rise of the Wrym Lord

by Wayne Thomas Batson

  “The dark thing flew back into the carriage. Before the carriage door shut, I saw a twisted, shriveled thing . . . like something unearthed from a grave. Then Paragor unleashed a mace, a great black spiked thing! It burst into flames. He whirled it about him, wreathing himself in flames, and then he smashed it against the main gate of Clarion . . . and it burst asunder and the flames spread.

  “Everyone within, even children, fled in terror toward the safety of the castle, but they were struck down without mercy! At any resistance, the monster from the carriage emerged, spraying fire out of the darkness and kindling everything to char—even some of the stone itself melted! It was over in minutes. Tobias fell before the creature. I do not know what became of him because I was sent sprawling by Paragor’s mace. I do not even think Paragor knew he had hit me.” Tal laughed, a tired, hacking laugh.

  “What about the survivors, Tal?” Farix asked. “Did Paragor take prisoners away?”

  Tears slipped from the corners of Tal’s eyes. He stared at Farix, but before Tal could answer, his eyes became still, fixed.

  “You fought well, Tal!” Kaliam proclaimed, gently closing Tal’s eyes. “Matthias himself may now tell you it is so. And your King will greet you in the Blessed Realm and say to you, ‘Well done, Servant of Alleble! Well done.”

  Quickly but with great care, they raised a cairn of rocks over Tal. They stood in silence around it until one of the Acacian riders called out, “Look! The smoke clears! And the castle of Clarion still stands!”

  They all turned and, beyond all hope, the white castle of Clarion was intact, resting upon the highest hill in the small kingdom. But Kaliam did not rejoice, for it seemed to him that the castle was surrounded by a gray shroud—a vaporous swirling mist that issued from its gatehouse.

  They mounted their dragon steeds and soared up the hill to the wide stair before the castle’s main gate. They all started to climb the stair, but Kaliam raised his hand and stopped them. “I will go,” he said. He turned, walked slowly up the white steps, and disappeared within the hanging mist.

  A moment passed, and then those gathered on the stair heard a haunting moan from within the castle. Kaliam emerged, shrieking, and fell to his knees on the steps.

  “The stone alone survived!” he cried, covering his face with his gauntlets. “The rest . . . they are all burned.”

  And that was all they could get from him for a long while. Farix and Oswyn carried him down the steps and laid him flat by his dragon. They stayed near to Kaliam, but they could not comfort him. No one else went back into the castle.

  Finally, Kaliam sat up and took a drink of water. Aelic came to him and sat down. He put a trembling hand on Kaliam’s shoulder. “Kaliam,” he said, a deep-seated tremor in his voice, “was Antoinette among the dead?”

  Kaliam looked away. “It is impossible to tell,” he said.

  40

  THE NAME

  ABOVE ALL NAMES

  Look!” Oswyn shouted. “In the sky to the northwest!” They all turned and looked to the sky above the ruin of Clarion. And there, just as the sun broke through the clouds, the sky filled with dragons!

  “At last we have a strand of hope!” Kaliam announced. “It is our own force of dragons! Gird yourselves, warriors! For the Dragon Guard of Alleble has come!”

  Dragons bearing knights in gleaming armor swooped into Clarion. Banners they flew but all with the same emblem: twin mountain peaks with the sun rising between them!

  Sir Gabriel, the lead dragon rider, rode a magnificent gray dragon with a vast wingspan. Its scales glistened in the sun as it landed softly at the foot of the stairs. Next, Trenna’s dragon landed. They quickly dismounted their dragons and ran to Kaliam.

  “Sir Gabriel, you are a sight for weary eyes!” Kaliam shouted, and he embraced him.

  “My Sentinel, I bring you three thousand mounted knights!” he said. “But I fear we are too late!”

  “For Clarion, yes.” Kaliam nodded sadly. “Our worst fears are realized, my old friend. Paragor has set free the Wyrm Lord. Clarion fell in minutes before the onslaught of Paragor and his fell beast. It is a loss beyond words.” Kaliam looked over his shoulder at the castle of Clarion. “But mourning must wait. Even now, Paragor turns homeward and approaches Yewland. Alas, I wish that you and the Dragon Guard had gone there instead of here!”

  “Then know this!” Sir Gabriel said, and his eyes flashed blue. “The force that you see here is only a fraction of the army King Eliam has sent to Yewland. As we speak, twenty thousand knights march and ride to Yewland with haste!”

  “Bless you, Sir Gabriel,” said Kaliam, and he kissed him upon the cheek. “You encourage me! And I think now the pieces are in place to cast Paragor down once and for all!”

  “But how?” Sir Gabriel asked. “How can you be sure now that the ancient wyrm has been called out of dark legend to life?”

  Kaliam took Sir Gabriel by the shoulders and gently said, “Tal and Tobias were among those killed in the battle here.” Sir Gabriel gritted his teeth, but he did not look away.

  “But Tal saw the Wyrm Lord,” Kaliam went on. “And what he told me leads me to believe that the old dragon has not yet recovered his full strength. Paragor keeps him in a large carriage, and he only entered the battle for short spans. Granted, even in his diminished form, the Wyrm Lord is a dreadful force. But if we could assail him now, before Paragor cloisters him away in his dark land, then we might have a chance!”

  Kaliam held up a fist and a broad, lustful grin broke out on his face. “Paragor does not know this, but he is heading right into the jaws of a trap!”

  “What do you mean?” Sir Gabriel asked. Aelic, Trenna, and the knights gathered close around.

  Kaliam held up both hands and gestured vigorously as he spoke. “Paragor thinks he will march through Yewland as quickly as he did Clarion. But if Mallik, Sir Rogan, and Nock reached Queen Illaria as I think they must have, then she will have the Forest Road swarming with her braves! The massive force of our countrymen from Alleble, twenty thousand strong, will pour into the western exit of the Forest Road. Then we will swoop in from the east and we will crush the enemy from all sides!”

  “Yes!” shouted Sir Gabriel.

  Kaliam turned to the dragon riders and bellowed, “Dragon Guard of Alleble! Knights of all lands who have come to our aid! Paragor has much to answer for, and finally he has come out into the open! You must make one more flight, one more journey, and you must race to the Forest Road to face the enemy and defeat him!”

  Thousands of voices cheered as one. Kaliam raised a hand to quiet them. “But servants of King Eliam, gird yourselves! Paragor has a weapon of dread, and old tales you have heard spoke more truth than many of you believed. The Wyrm Lord has been released from his tomb!”

  Fear swept over the knights, and they began to clamor. Kaliam raised his hands, but they did not quiet. Finally, he raised his sword, and little by little, their anxieties ceased to be voiced. Kaliam kept the sword in the air and yelled, “I fear that name just as you do! It is a terror magnified by the years and yet still worse now that it is real. He is the firstborn dragon, the Wyrm Lord, and he is endowed with fearsome power. His name ought to make us all tremble. But I for one will not tremble, and do you know why?” A great hush fell over the knights and dragons that filled the streets of Clarion as they waited on Kaliam, their Sentinel.

  “I will not tremble at the name of the wyrm!” yelled Kaliam. His eyes flashed, and his voice grew more powerful and assured. “No! Because I know another name . . . a greater name than his! A name that strikes terror in the heart of Paragor and the ilk who serve him! A name the Wyrm Lord himself will remember! And this name is on our side and wields a power none can overcome! I will not be afraid. Nay, we will not be afraid because the name we serve is King Eliam the Everlasting. And he will put down the enemy once and for all by our hands!!” Cheers erupted, and three thousand swords stabbed up into the air. And one by one, the Dragon Guards took to the air for the urgen
t journey to Yewland.

  41

  THE BATTLE

  AT YEWLAND

  The moon painted the Dragon Guard of Alleble silver as they surged across the night sky en route to Yewland. Kaliam commanded the guard from the lead dragon. On Kaliam’s left flank, Aelic rode upon Gabby, Gwenne’s dragon steed, sent from Alleble. Oswyn, Sir Gabriel, Trenna, and Lady Merewen’s dragons flew in formation on either side.

  Aelic was thinking of Antoinette. He didn’t know why he felt so sure, but he truly believed she was still alive. But in the midst of the fight? How long? Aelic silently appealed to King Eliam for strength—strength to win the battle and deliver Antoinette from her bonds.

  Kaliam’s dragon steed swooped low. Aelic looked down. The trail of the Paragor Knights was becoming very clear on the land below. They were heading right for the forests of Yewland, and because they were on foot, they were not far ahead of the Dragon Guard.

  A deep horn sounded. That was the signal from Kaliam to ride the dragons just above the ground for the last few leagues. There it is, Aelic thought. Just ahead was the large hill Kaliam had told them all to expect. They were to stay low until that hill, and then, as if the hill were a ramp, they would soar up over it and swoop down upon the enemy at the Forest Road. They will not know what hit them, Aelic thought as he turned and looked over his shoulder at the thousands of knights on their dragon steeds. The eyes of the riders flashed blue in the darkness.

  “This is it, Gabby!” Aelic called to his dragon. Aelic pulled back on the reins of his steed, and Gabby climbed high from the base of the hill. Up they all went, dragon after dragon. With their trajectory straight up, none of them could even see the trees that rose up on both sides of the Forest Road.

  But as they arced down, the forest—glowing with the fires of battle—rose up to meet them. Clashing warriors—some wearing the black and crimson of Paragory, and others the green and brown of Yewland—filled the Forest Road. Kaliam raced ahead and rode his steed into the wide gap between the trees. Aelic and the others glided in behind their Sentinel, weapons drawn.

  A hail of arrows, glistening briefly in the moonlight, sprayed from the trees on both sides of the road, adding to the fallen enemies that littered the ground. Kaliam, Aelic, and company raced west and did not worry about being slain by the arrows from their allies. For Yewland’s archers were born to wield a bow and raised to hunt in the dark. They picked off the enemy as fast as they could draw and fire.

  Nock, Mallik, and Sir Rogan must have reached Yewland in time to warn Queen Illaria! Aelic thought as the Dragon Guard rode into the fray.

  A warrior rose up ahead of Aelic and raised his sword menacingly, but before Aelic could thrust Fury forward, his dragon grabbed the enemy in her jaws and flung him cartwheeling into the air.

  The ranks of the enemy thickened as the Dragon Guard swept up the road. Aelic brought Fury down on the helmet of one soldier and swept the legs out from another. A sudden flash of orange flame to Aelic’s left distracted him, and he heard someone sing out, “Oh-ho!” Apparently, Oswyn had given the enemy a taste of his fire powder.

  Suddenly, Aelic sensed movement to his right and pulled the reins. Gabby’s wing bowled over a huge axe-wielding warrior. The enemy knight went down in a heap, but the axe struck the dragon’s wing at the joint. Gabby roared in agony, tried to stay above the ground, but tilted and crashed into the Blackwood side of the Forest Road.

  Aelic flew out of the saddle and hit the ground. His head barely missed the base of an enormous tree. Aelic jumped to his feet, shook the disorientation away, and began searching for Fury. Then he saw it, the blade shining blue in the moonlight that shone down between the gaps in the foliage. He ran for the blade, grabbed the grip, but it would not move. Aelic looked up and saw a heavy Paragor Knight standing upon the blade. His eyes flashed red as he raised his axe.

  The axe never fell. Gabby made sure of that. She severed the knight’s arm at the shoulder and spit it—axe and all—into the trees. The warrior howled, clutched his shoulder, and ran into the woods after his arm.

  Aelic looked at Gabby’s ruined right wing. It was a clean break, so she would not fly. He smiled reverently at Gwenne’s dragon and patted her on the nose. “You have fought well, Gabby,” he said. “Now, stay under the tree. Keep out of sight! I will return for you when I can.” He grabbed Fury and hurried to search for Antoinette.

  Most of the dragon-riders that left from Clarion were engaged in battle, but farther up the Forest Road, Kaliam and Lady Merewen were on foot. As they made their way around roaring fires, it became clear that the Wyrm Lord was not far away.

  “This way!” Kaliam yelled, and he ran to help a Yewland Brave, who was struggling with a dark warrior wearing a sharp helmet and a long scarlet cape. But the warrior struck before Kaliam could get there, and the brave fell to the ground.

  The warrior turned and raised two swords to greet Kaliam and Lady Merewen.

  “Rucifel!” Kaliam yelled.

  “Yes!” snarled the warrior. “It is fitting that you should know the name of your executioner. You, sir, are one of those whelps we fought at Mithegard! And, unless my eyes have failed, before me is Lady Merewen, traitor to Paragor’s cause! How fortunate that I should have the privilege of dispatching you both!”

  He leaped at them, both swords flying, striking with precision. And it was all Kaliam and Lady Merewen could do to fend off the initial onslaught. Kaliam quickly ducked one slash and drove his broadsword forward at Rucifel’s chest. Deflecting Kaliam’s thrust, Rucifel brought his other sword down hard, missing Kaliam by a fraction of an inch. Rucifel sidestepped a slash from Lady Merewen, and flung both blades at her midsection.

  She staggered backward to avoid his strike, and Kaliam advanced. Their battle raged out into the middle of the road. Yewland Braves loosed arrows from the heights of the trees, but the quick-moving Rucifel dodged them and kept coming. Kaliam defended, but like an uncoiling snake, Rucifel spun back the other way. Lady Merewen missed him with a high thrust, and Rucifel slammed a backfist into Kaliam’s chest. Kaliam sprawled on the road.

  Rucifel pounced, but Lady Merewen threw herself shoulder-first into her enemy’s back. Rucifel stumbled forward and drove one of his blades into the ground. Kaliam rolled to his feet and slammed his broadsword into the center of his enemy’s trapped blade. The sword cracked and split. Shards fell to the ground. Rucifel was left with one sword and two opponents.

  Aelic was cautiously approaching some enemy carriages, when a spear stuck hard into the wooden crate on the wagon in front of him. Aelic crashed Fury down on the spear, splitting it in two, before spinning around and driving his boot into the Paragor Knight’s stomach. The evil knight fell to the ground, clutching his midsection. A Yewland arrow from an unseen archer above finished him.

  Aelic began to search the wagons and carriages. Antoinette has to be in one of them! The battle was heavy around him, and he grew weary as he ran from wagon to wagon looking for, but not finding, Antoinette.

  Then ahead, he spotted a wagon pulled to the side of the Forest Road. A tall Paragor Knight stood at the rear of the wagon. He had long blond hair and a gray cloak around his shoulders. In his hand was a wide-bladed sword. It’s Kearn! What is he guarding? Aelic wondered.

  Cautiously, Aelic approached him.

  The Paragor Knight turned, and his green eyes met Aelic’s. “You!” Kearn screamed.

  “Where is Antoinette?” Aelic demanded. He let the tip of Fury drift down, preparing a moulinet.

  “Aelic!” came a voice from inside the wagon.

  Kearn laughed. “Does that answer your question?”

  “Let her go!” Aelic yelled.

  “What fun would that be? You come and get her!” Kearn said quietly, and he slashed his heavy blade in front of Aelic.

  “Aelic, no!” came Antoinette’s muffled voice. “Aelic, no! Don’t kill him!”

  “That’s right, Aelic!” Kearn sneered. “You cannot kill me, or—what was his name�
��Aidan, yes, that was it. Aidan will lose his best friend.”

  Aelic looked to the wagon and back to Kearn. He had to get Antoinette out. He had to save her. But in order to do it, he had to get past Kearn.

  Kearn lashed out with a two-fisted blow. Aelic blocked it at his waist. The strike was so hard that Aelic’s ears rung and his hands tingled.

  “You cannot kill me, Aelic!” Kearn mocked. “But I can kill you! And here is the marvelous thing about this arrangement. If I kill you, then I slay Aidan also!”

  Aelic stood for a moment very still, but his eyes darted as if he was engaged in some silent, desperate debate. Then, suddenly, he sprang at Kearn, unleashing a sweeping backhanded slash. Kearn blocked but had been caught off guard. Before he could duck completely out of the way, Aelic whipped Fury up and opened a gash in Kearn’s cheek. Kearn wiped at the blood with his hand and stared wide-eyed at Aelic.

  Aelic held Fury in one hand and stretched out his arm so that the sword’s point was at Kearn’s eye level. “Antoinette and Aidan might not kill you,” he said. “But I have no problem with it.”

  42

  THE WYRM LORD

  Far ahead on the Forest Road, Mallik and Sir Rogan leaped from the trees into a mass of Paragor Knights. Nock remained high on a limb and covered them with arrow fire. Mallik came up swinging his massive hammer, crushing two enemies against the trunk of a Blackwood. Sir Rogan’s broadaxe felled three enemies as if they were saplings. The two Alleb warriors, with steely, grim purpose, marched side by side plowing up the Forest Road, and none withstood them. Nock leaped from tree to tree, keeping a watchful eye.

  “Is your axe full yet?” Mallik joked. “Shall we go home now?”

  Sir Rogan stroked his beard, glared at his friend, and thundered up the road.

  “I guess not,” Mallik said and raced to keep up with him.

  Since the battle began, the three of them had fought their way through more than a hundred Paragor Knights, and Nock had to climb down to scavenge for more arrows. They walked along unopposed for a time, but something about the quiet of the wood was unnerving. And the absence of the enemy, the absence of an attack, was more troubling still.