Heir of Shandara (Book 4) (16 page)

If that is our fate, then it is our sacrifice to make. Do you know nothing of our kind, Ferasdiam marked? There is imbalance in this world, and it grows with each passing moment.

Aaron felt his throat tighten. How could he summon the Dragons to a battle that could see the end of their kind?

The imbalance spreads. We feel it among the higher planes. You must sense this as well.

Aaron drew in a shaky breath.
The Eldarin don’t wish for you to fall.

The fallen ones cannot be allowed to roam free. They are a blight upon this realm, and they must be stopped!

Aaron staggered back, yielding to the crushing rage exuding from the Dragon and felt his own rise to the surface.

An ancient one has fallen, and the imbalance spreads. Sacrifice is demanded,
the Dragon pressed.

Aaron lifted his head and met the Dragon’s gaze.
Then I sacrifice myself.

No!
 

The Dragon stomped forward, its claws digging into the ground.

The marked must unite us. The tide must be turned, or all will perish. We will always honor the sacred pact.

Aaron knew what the Dragon was saying. The power had been growing within him. The very same power that corrupted High King Amorak into the monster he had become. The High King had believed himself to be a god and had used his power to subvert the people of Safanar. He wouldn’t walk the same path.

What is the sacred pact?
Aaron asked.

The Dragon drew his head up, bathing in the radiance of the sun.

Safe guardianship of this realm. We’ve seen you battle. Yours is of the old blood who have not been among us since the time of the pact. You are Safanar’s champion, and we will heed the call of the Ferasdiam marked.

The Dragon launched into the air with a great swath of its wings and flew away.

Aaron released the breath he had been holding, and the energy left him. Darkness pressed in on his vision, and he sank to his knees. Verona rushed to his side and steadied him.

“I didn’t think it was my place to approach, my friend,” Verona said.

Aaron nodded, still gaining his bearings. He sucked in a few breaths and steadied himself before rising to his feet.

“Not a gentle meeting?” Verona asked.

Aaron shook his head. “They’re angry.”

Verona snorted. “Don’t tell me you’ve earned the ire of a Dragon now, my friend.”

“They want me to summon them to the battle,” Aaron said.

Verona nodded. “My friend, you have the noblest of intentions. You think to protect the Dragons from annihilation by not calling them into battle. But you forget that whether they battle or not is entirely up to them.”

“They will come. Even if it means their end,” Aaron said.

“I’ve seen you throw yourself into the thickest part of any battle more times than I can count. What makes your sacrifice any less than theirs—or mine, for that matter?” Verona asked.

Aaron’s shoulders slumped, and he felt a heavy weariness spread through him. “It doesn’t. I’ve just lost so many people along the way…”

“We can’t win against Halcylon unless we work together, and in order to work together the burden must be shared. Even if it means we lose some of our friends along the way,” Verona said.

Aaron unclenched his jaw to speak. “I would bear it all if I could.”

“But you don’t have to, and honestly you can’t. The Dragons understand this. You just need to accept it.”

Aaron brushed his weariness aside and pulled in a small amount of energy from the earth. “Thanks, I needed that.”

Verona grinned. “As the good Admiral Morgan is fond of saying, we all need a good kick in the pants once in a while. Yours just happened to come from a Dragon and, well, me. I’ve said it before, my friend. I will see this journey through to its end.”

Verona was his first real friend when Aaron arrived on Safanar from Earth. Whether it was the Goddess’s blessing, fate, or just plain old-fashioned good luck, he counted himself truly fortunate to have such a friend.
 

C
HAPTER
14

CASTLE RUINS

The sun cast its warmth upon a small northern town in Khamearra. The townsfolk went about their business with more of a spring in their strides since Sarah had been there last. No doubt the absence of the castle that had served as Mactar’s home fueled such happiness. Both the castle and its master were gone. Thinking of Colind’s sacrifice to end the life of Mactar was bittersweet. She had grown very fond of Colind, who had helped nurse her back to health after Aaron had rid her body of the Nanites. She knew that Colind would rest easier knowing that he’d traded his life for Mactar’s, but she missed the old Lord Guardian of the Safanarion Order. Despite his own grief, his counsel had always been wise.

“
This
was where Mactar made his home?” Isaac asked. They were outside the town, just beyond the boundaries of the castle.
 

“Not what you expected?” Sarah asked.

Isaac scratched the back of his head and shook it. “Not at all. I expected something grander.”

Sarah shrugged and led them up the path to the charred castle ruins. A few remnant walls looked as if a good wind could blow them over. The men Isaac brought with them were all former Elitesmen. When she disbanded the Elite Order, the members who chose to serve had the option to join the Free Nations Army. They were to serve at the lowest possible rank where only merit would gain them authority. After a year of service, they could apply to the Safanarion Order. Shortly after the battle with her father, Aaron had input the year of service in the FNA as the bare minimum prior to an application into the Order, and Sarah had agreed. The former Elitesmen with them had all served the Resistance in Khamearra during her father’s reign, so there was an element of trust that had already been established. They all wore plain blue uniforms of the Free Nations Army with the exception of Isaac, who still donned his black leather duster over his clothing. As Isaac put it, his loyalty was to her, and at his age he wasn’t about to don a uniform.
 

“The place is a wreck. I’m not sure what we hope to find here,” Isaac said.

“I’m going to look around. Have the men form a perimeter just in case. I would prefer it if they stay out of the castle grounds,” Sarah said.

It had been many months since she had been to Mactar’s castle, with the last time being upon her father’s business. This was shortly after Aaron had arrived at Safanar from a place he called Earth. She had practically jumped at the opportunity to deliver her father’s summons to Mactar and see him squirm. Unlike her brothers, she had kept from being pulled in by Mactar’s manipulative designs. He was attracted to her, and she learned early on how to deal with the attentions of powerful men. She had become ruthless on occasion because there were those in power that only respected strength. She knew her father kept sending her to deal with Mactar as a way of dangling a much sought after prize. Those days were now gone, and how different her life was now. She was the High Queen of Khamearra. Her little girl’s dreams of love had faded along with her childhood long ago. That is until fate had thrown one Aaron Jace in her path. Her eyes softened as they drifted to the east, where she knew Aaron was preparing for battle with the Zekara. A small flutter caused her stomach to tighten. She wondered if that was their babies growing inside her.
 

She needed to deal with Rordan quickly so she could return to Aaron. Once she told him of the pregnancy, he would likely try to keep her from the fighting. Many that followed them would agree with him, and he might even be right, when her belly started to swell. That time was not yet, and her place was fighting at Aaron’s side.

Sarah turned back to the twisted, charred remains of the castle. Melted glass had pooled around broken frames with parts glistening in the sunlight. It was a fitting end to all the evil that had been hatched inside. The effects of Mactar would be felt upon the nations of Safanar for many years to come.
 

She felt something pushing on the edges of her thoughts about her last visit here. She had just sent Mactar to the palace in Khamearra through the travel crystal. Perhaps she needed a different perspective. She drew in the energy and leaped atop one of the few remaining walls. The blackened ruins had long since cooled, and Sarah leaped again to the far side of the castle where Mactar had kept his prized possessions. Some of those possessions had value, but most wouldn’t give them a passing thought until they learned that they were trophies taken from Mactar’s conquests. She remembered one of Shandara’s standards had hung on the wall. One of his most prized possessions from the fall of Shandara. She could only imagine the blow to his pride when he learned that he had not rid Safanar of the Alenzar’seth line, of which Aaron was the last. Not the last anymore—she corrected herself as her hand caressed her stomach.
 

A partial frame stuck out amid a loose pile of rubble. The bronze laurel work tugged at her memory. Her eyes swept the ground and then came back to the bronze frame. She grasped the edges of the large frame and pulled it out of the pile. The frame was twisted and bent on one side, but there was one corner completely intact. A mirror shard was firmly attached to the corner. This was the mirror that hung on the wall where she had last encountered Mactar. He had been calling out to someone…

“
Tarimus
,” Sarah whispered. Mactar had used the mirror to control Colind’s son, Tarimus. Tarimus had effectively allowed her father’s armies into Shandara before she had been born. The reward he had been given was to be trapped within the netherworld.

“Your Grace, are you well?” Isaac asked, crossing the castle ruins in short energy-enhanced leaps.

“I’m fine,” Sarah answered. “This was Mactar’s; he used it to control Tarimus.”

Isaac frowned, staring at the mirror shard. “You think this is tied to the amulet that Rordan is wearing?”

“Mactar didn’t give it to him out of the goodness of his twisted heart. No, he had an angle. There was something in it for him. While the amulet may augment Rordan’s powers, there is always a cost for such gains,” Sarah said, and focused on the shard with a tendril of energy. Tiny crystallized dust was infused into the mirror shard and frame. She could sense the power within the shard respond to her.

“Do you know how it works?” Isaac asked.

“I think this shard is connected to the amulet that Rordan now wears,” Sarah said.

Isaac nodded. “I can sense that the shard is infused with energy.”

Sarah twisted the frame corner with the shard, breaking it off. She wiped the dirt from the shard, and she felt a small tendril of energy cluster to where her fingers made contact. She immediately heard her brother’s voice.

“This is what they’ve sent me?” Rordan asked, sounding unimpressed.

“It’s a magnificent specimen, your Grace. And they promised more,” a voice answered.

“It is rather large, Darven,” Rordan said. “We would be hard pressed smuggling it into the city, but I do like the black armor. If these Zekara can deliver on their promise and provide an army of these, then that could tip the balance in our favor for retaking the city.”

“I think a test is in order. We should really see what this thing can do, your Grace,” Darven said.

“Agreed. What do you have in mind?” Rordan asked.

“Perhaps a visit to the palace—” Darven began. “Your amulet,” Darven whispered.

“What about—it’s glowing!”

With a gasp, Sarah released the mirror shard.

“What is it?” Isaac asked.

“I heard Rordan’s voice. The shard is connected to the amulet somehow,” Sarah said.

Isaac’s gaze darted to the shard. “What did you hear?”

“They’re planning something at the palace. The Zekara have reached out to him somehow.”

“How would the Zekara even know about Rordan?”

Sarah shook her head, her mind going back over what she had heard. “There was someone else with him. Darven was his name.”

Isaac’s lip curled. “He was Mactar’s apprentice. A former member of the Elite Order who managed to break away.”

“I know who he is now,” Sarah said. She would have loved to get her hands on both men, but Aaron most especially would want to get his hands on his mother’s murderer. Darven had managed to elude them for some time, and Aaron had put aside his reckoning with the former Elitesman for now.