Dragon of Eriden - The Complete Collection

by Samantha Jacobey

  A Sprinkle of Magic

  The ocean cold, Oldrilin’s sleek, black body sliced through the waves. It had been many moons since she had last transformed, but she used a sprinkle of magic and made the shift as if it were nothing. Taking one look back, she rolled to see Reynard standing on the shore, and panic coursed through her veins.

  Goodbye, Rey Daye.

  Turning south, she dove, her scales shimmering as she wriggled back and forth in practiced motion. The sirens seldom took to the water at night, but this was no ordinary occasion. Oldrilin knew the fate of her people could be at stake, and she would face her fears of the cold, dark water to help them.

  Must make Riran.

  The daunting distance would be a great challenge to achieve, especial after spending so many days upon the land, followed by such a long swim. The magic of the sirens allowed them to swim much faster than ordinary fish, but she had not used hers since she left Riran.

  My magic is strong.

  With the gnomes of Falconmarsh situated high on the eastern coast of Eriden, the journey should have taken weeks. But with her special gift she would arrive in the mermaid lagoon close to sunset the following night. Thinking of this, she knew how far did not matter; she had to get there.

  Go far to save my friends.

  Using the thought as her mantra, she focused on pushing herself. Which friends was she swimming to save? She had so many these days. The new ones she had roamed with and those she had left behind. Would Olirassa still be queen? If the elves had invaded them, anything could have happened. Worry tormented her thoughts, and her heart sang with pain.

  Must deliver Piers’s message.

  It warmed her when she thought of her friend and leader; the human male who had guided their group through one catastrophe after another. But they had always come through in the end. He had never spoken to her so kindly as he did in their parting. Rey had always been her best and Bally close behind.

  Oh, Bally, why did you go?

  Her mind on their lost comrade, her pace slowed. Picturing his small circle of trees and giant stone marker, her heart ached. She had cried her pitiful song at his memorial, but she doubted if the others knew how much she missed him. The salt water caught her tears, and she mourned him once again before tearing her mind from the woeful thoughts.

  Focus. Swim. Don’t think. Don’t weep.

  Determined, she pushed the memories aside. Holding on to Reynard Daye and all the time he had carried her, she imagined he was doing so at that moment. Her mind safe in her pouch, she undulated through the salty water, pushing ever harder and faster towards the southern shores.

  “Oldrilin? Is this her?”

  “I think it is!”

  “Shh – do not let the elf hear.”

  “Quick, get her onto the shore.”

  “Hide her in the trees.”

  “She’s freezing.”

  “She must be exhausted.”

  “Where did she come from?”

  “Where has she been?”

  “Quiet, all of you,” Olirassa commanded, taking charge and shooing the swarm of tiny bodies away. “Bring her to lie on the moss. Who will fetch the nectar?”

  “I will,” a volunteer spoke up, her tiny feet pattering on the path to the great waterfall.

  “The elves have plundered our meadow,” another sobbed.

  “There will be enough,” the queen soothed, lifting their lost sister’s hand. “We will sacrifice what we can find and nurse her to health with our last drop if we must.”

  Her eyes fluttering, Oldrilin laid her arm across her face to shield herself from the sun. Blinking against it, she turned her head and looked side to side. Spying a small mermaid to her left, she giggled, “Oldrilin found Riran?”

  “Oh, Lin!” a small voice sang. “She’s awake, my queen!”

  “Shh,” Olirassa hissed, looking around anxiously. Seeing the elf had not noticed, she grinned, moving to sit so the sun lay behind her and fell as shadow across her old friend.

  “I am home?” Oldrilin pushed, her sounds weak.

  “Yes, you have returned to the alcove. Here, sip.” The sovereign offered a shell of the precious, healing liquid.

  Taking a long drink, the cool water felt good against her swollen lips. When she had finished a second, she lay back against the damp, moss covered sand. “I was frightened, to not transform,” she whispered, holding up her hand to test her fingers.

  “You are safe,” Olirassa smiled. “You were found yesterday, here on the beach when we came in for the evening.”

  “Yesterday!” Lin gasped, trying to sit up. “Oh, no, I’ve been too long! My poor Rey Daye…” she lamented as she gave up her struggle and rested once more.

  Her eyes roving up and down her prone position, the queen sighed, “You speak of the mortal, Amicia’s friend. They are the ones who took you from us?”

  “Yes,” Oldrilin agreed with a small nod, “but no. I was hurting the night of the dragon’s fire. I couldn’t swim. Rey Daye saved me, wrapped and carried away,” she explained. Pulling hard, she made it to a sitting position. The sun no longer behind her friend’s back, she was able to see her clearly for the first time. “Oh, what happened?” she gasped. “So sad.”

  Her hand absently adjusting her mane, the queen sighed, “Oh, Oldrilin.”

  Olirassa’s appearance had changed greatly since the night of the birthday celebration ball. Her hair still a golden brown, it only grew from portions of her scalp, with large places of rough skin covering much of her small head.

  “I was burned badly the night of the dragon attack,” the queen explained, wafting a hand to indicate her followers. “Many of us were. Hurt beyond the power of the nectar. We were healed, but we were changed.”

  “Oh, sweet Eriden,” Lin wailed softly, tears forming in her clear blue orbs. “So sorry to see.”

  “Yes, we lost many friends on that fateful night,” her matron sighed, then her features brightened, “but one who was lost has been returned.”

  “Returned, yes,” Oldrilin giggled, then suddenly recalled why she had been gone. Her smile removed, she cut her eyes over to see the pair of elves standing watch at the remains of a tree that once marked the entrance to their lagoon.

  Inspecting them, she noted they were not as tall as Cilithrand or those of the ruling class like Animir. Shorter, they were closer in height to their servants; but still giants to creatures such as the sirens. “So, Lamwen speaks true.”

  “Lamwen?”

  “The watcher dragon. He is a friend of Amicia. I have come to see if his words were right. It seems so,” she moaned, shaking her head side to side.

  “Yes, they have been here only a short time, but our lives they have disrupted much,” Olirassa agreed.

  “I have a message, my queen,” Oldrilin pushed, wishing to stand.

  “Don’t move!” Olirassa warned. “It would be better we remain here, quiet, while you share,” she explained as she cut her bright green eyes over at their invaders as well. “We have feigned obedience, but they refuse to leave us. They make camps to remain, to build an elf city by the sea.”

  “Very well,” Oldrilin nodded, glad of the news she would report at her return to the others. For now, she had a message to deliver. “Piers sends his regrets. Wrong he was to stand against us in distrust.”

  “The Mate,” Olirassa growled, shaking what remained of her long brown locks. “He, we should have devoured.”

  “He has said his sorry,” Lin persisted, shaking her head dolefully. “He has seen the truth in our days of journey. He wishes to know if you will be allies to stand against Gwirwen.”

  “We have always stood against him,” the queen hissed, “in our own way. Is there a plan?”

  “Only be strong,” Oldrilin sighed, shaking her head. “You must be ready for the time we fight. Ami will call for you when the need is arisen.”

  “Yes,” the queen agreed, offering her hand.

  Taking it, Oldrilin smiled, “Then t
he deal is struck, and I must depart.”

  “Depart,” the siren who had been tending her spat. “You must rest, Lin. You have been weakened greatly, away from the water so long.”

  “But I must return to my friends,” the mermaid cried, her lip forming a small pout. “I shall reply to the message and give our word. And tell them of the elfs who should not be.”

  “We must let you go,” Olirassa agreed, “but not today. You will take the nectar through the night and go out with us at first light. Slip away quietly, that the Cilithrand will not know you have come or gone.”

  “Lady Cilithrand asked for me?” Oldrilin inquired in a shaky voice.

  “When the elves first appeared,” the queen explained. “They hunted for you by name, but we told them you were not here, and we had not seen you since the dragon’s fire rained upon us.”

  “Then I will hide and not let them see,” Lin agreed with a generous nod, her voice low. “Thank you, my sisters. I will do as you say and leave quietly on the morrow.” Lying back against her cushion of moss, she closed her eyes to rest. She would need her strength for the return trip as she carried the truth and words of hope back to her friends and her Rey Daye, who waited for her on the shores of Falconmarsh.

  Heart of Darkness

  “I think that would be unwise,” Meena advised, her hand occupied with stirring a pot of breakfast mash. The group had spent the night in fitful sleep with Rey and the siren gone, and the path Amicia would lead them down the morning after troubled her.

  “Oh,” Ami clipped, taking her seat on the rock before her bed. The blackened hamar gem in her hand, she stared at it, amazed at the transformation. “Well, you must understand that this is my choice to make,” she informed them, a hint of lording in her voice, as if they were now beneath her.

  “Is it, love?” the Mate cut in, standing to tower over her. “Seems I’ve been deposed,” he growled, glancing at his wife. “But perhaps my years of wisdom will carry a little weight.”

  Ami glared at his surliness, a little deflated by his tone. “You always have my ear even if I do not heed your urging.”

  “Is that so,” he growled, taking the empty spot next to her. He pointed at the stone as he spat through gritted teeth, “That thing killed Bally. She’s an evil witch that serves no purpose to the rest of us.”

  The air tight in her lungs, the girl turned his words. “I know this. But I also know that we are all capable of dark, even depraved acts, at least in the eyes of others if not ourselves. I’m not saying we should make her a part of the group.” She cut her eyes over at him, lifting her chin enough to meet his cool, dark gaze. “I just think it would be wise to win her over or remove her from the stone.”

  “There would be no winning,” Meena corrected, taking the corner of the adjacent giant rock so she could sit close as well. “She could never be trusted.”

  “Kedoria is a dark elf,” Animir joined in from the other side of their fire. “They serve no master among the living.”

  “And so, you think this idea folly as well?” she accused, sitting up straight to glare at him, then at Hayt and Zae.

  The dwarf and nymph couple remained silent during the discussion as they sat on the fourth stone in front of their bed. Holding hands and their tongues, they felt no need to join the debate, as nothing they could say would soothe the heated argument, and neither cared to add fuel to the flame.

  “I do,” the elf replied, less afraid of taking a stand. His lips forming a puffy pucker, he held the odd countenance to emphasize his point of view.

  Standing, Amicia’s heart ached. Leaving them, she ambled down the line of the trees until she arrived at the designated trail. Rey had marked it the day the memorial had been erected. The ceremony had taken place as if they wanted to say their goodbyes and forget about the young man who had once walked beside them.

  On the contrary, the sacred place was visited every day, several times a day, and the trail had become familiar to them all. Wiping at a tear as she cleared the ring and stood within the circle, she whispered, “Hi, Bally.”

  Holding up the gem, she spoke to him as if he would reply. “I’ve got a bit of a problem, and I was hoping you could help me riddle it out. The dark elf that Animir captured, Kedoria, occupies my hamar gem. She is a powerful witch, and I wish to turn her and use her against our enemies.”

  A gust of wind pushed against her, lifting the few hairs that framed her face and causing them to float. The feel of them brushing her skin gave the girl a tingle, and she panted, her lungs gasping in spasms of excitement that he might have heard and even responded.

  “If she refuses to take up our cause, I may not be strong enough to destroy her. The best I could do is free her and allow her to return to the darkness of the caverns. We would be safe, mind you. She cannot or will not come out this end, and the dwarves have blocked the other with their magical enchantments. She would be a prisoner there for all time, or inside the stone even, if we do nothing,” she argued, her eyes misty by the end.

  “They’ve imprisoned my father, you know. Or perhaps you don’t know,” she added, catching the hairs and pulling them out of her face with a twisted smile. “I got to see him, Baldwin. He was a magnificent dragon, but he has wasted in his cell until he is scarcely scales and bones. It was pitiful to stand before him, and I would not wish that upon anyone, to sit and decay while one still draws breath,” she huffed, “not even my worst enemy.”

  Staring down at the gem, it felt heavy in her hand, and her choice was clear, as if her young friend had whispered it in her ear. “I must do this,” she agreed, sucking her lips in and chewing them for a moment. “Either she will join us, or she will be banished, but I cannot hold her imprisoned here within my grasp. Thank you,” she smiled, turning to rejoin to the others.

  Arriving at their fire, the group less Lin and Rey ate their breakfast in silence.

  “Are you ready for your bowl?” Meena asked tenderly.

  “No. I must deal with the dark elf first,” Amicia spat. “Animir, would you join me?”

  “My lady?” he replied, glancing anxiously at the others. Seeing she intended for him to follow without further debate, he slid his hand over and placed his bowl in Oldrilin’s empty seat on the rock.

  “They can’t help you,” Amicia clipped. “This is my call. Come with me and let’s settle this once and for all,” she commanded, turning her back as she walked away.

  Strutting towards the cave, which would eventually lead to the fallen kingdom of Asomanee, Amicia gripped the darkened stone. Squeezing it firmly, she wriggled her fingers as she left the bright light of day behind her, Animir at her heel with his long bow and a few arrows in hand.

  “My lady, I must insist upon my position, as I have stated quite clearly. This is not a sound course of action,” the elf beseeched as he followed her into the darkness.

  “Sound or not, this is the course I have chosen. Either she will join us or return to the depths below, but either way, I must have use of the gem returned to me,” the girl explained with a tight jaw.

  “Meena says –”

  “I know what Meena says,” Ami sighed. “Yes, the power is mine, and I am stronger each day. But the hamar holds some magic of its own. It augments mine, and they resonate and increase my strength as well as my focus. Besides, Kedoria has her own magic. If she were to agree to help us, it would add to our number, and we will need all the allies we can get.” Lifting the darkened vessel, she stared into its immutable black. “You will be able to return her if the need should arise?”

  “I believe that I will,” he agreed with a firm nod. Using the end of his weapon, he drew a large circle on the ground. Kneeling, he used a stiff finger to add the runes for the four corners, followed by others for protection around the edges, mimicking the original he had drawn at the other end of the tunnel that exited the cave and led to the abyss beneath them. “I used a similar device as this when I captured her before. I am confident she is bound by magical law a
nd we will be protected when we stand within it.”

  “Magical law,” Ami whispered, her lips twisting into a crooked grin. “I feel I have much to learn in the magical arts.”

  “Indeed,” Animir agreed, dusting his hands against one another as he stood. Holding out a flattened palm, he waited for her to turn the stone over to him. Studying her profile, he grimaced, “I am sorry I did not warn you before you took your vow with Reynard.”

  Distracted from gazing into the gem, she stammered, “What? Why would you say that?” she demanded, lifting her chin to glare at him.

  “I feel as if I should have, in hindsight. Now that your true nature has been revealed, I sense you are in pain.” He could have said her unhappiness had affected her judgment but swallowed that detail for the moment.

  She shook her head slowly, as if to dismiss his words. “Only for my people,” she soothed, forcing a brief smile. “I will one day rule this land, and I must make my choices align with the good of the kingdom.” Offering him the hamar, she indicated it with a nod, “My father has been imprisoned for two decades, a fact that tears at my heart beyond words. It would be easy to do the same with my enemies, but it would not be right. I will not see the queen of the daemons treated so unjustly. Either she will join us, or she will return to her realm, but we will hold her no longer if we can help it.”

  “Yes, my queen,” he agreed, accepting the gem. “Stand within the circle. If she attacks us, try to stay inside it. Only flee for the sunlight outside as a last resort.”

  “I understand,” Ami replied, taking her place beside him within the ring.

  Raising his arm, Animir chanted softly, his drawn lips moving as he whispered the spell that would release their nemesis. A bright flash of light halting his words, he held up an arm to shield his eyes, then blinked at the dark figure standing before them.