Redemption Of The Sacred Land (Book 3) (13 page)

Startled by Rennon’s sudden appearance, Dorenn tried to push him away. As soon as Dorenn touched him, he abruptly appeared as Morgoran. Dorenn immediately looked at the cot where Rennon was resting in Jindara’s care. “What in the name of thunder is happening?”

“It’s me, you fool,” Morgoran said. “I am trying to break the illusion, but it isn’t easy. There is a powerful mindwielder at work here, and he wants you to kill Rennon.”

“You will need to explain this one to me.” Dorenn said.

“Rennon has been trying this entire time to tell you he was not me but the illusion was too powerful. Everything I did or said was part of the illusion. It wasn’t really me. I have been here the whole time trying to break the illusion, because not one of you could see me at all. If you did see Rennon, it was just the illusion of Rennon.” Morgoran shook his head. It’s too complicated. Let’s just say I’m here now, Rennon is poisoned and we have an elaborate illusion to break.” Morgoran motioned to Seandara. “Open that door behind you. Let’s get somewhere more open.”

Seandara opened the door and took Dorenn’s hand. She pulled him out the door into the common room of the shop. “Come in here.”

Veric, Shey, and Gondrial followed. Seandara held up her finger. “All of you can talk in here. I will go back and assist Jindara.” She went back inside the room.

“Illusions! Perhaps I need to change this tunic,” Veric said. Shey glowered at him.

Gondrial was squinting at Lady Shey. “Shey, do you remember how to break an illusion? I believe it was the War of the Oracle when I last tried.”

“I do. It will take some doing though, especially with an illusion of this complexity.”

There was a blood-curdling scream, and Dorenn, who was the closest to the door, burst into the room, followed closely by Veric. Seandara was screaming at a huge, black-scaled, Drasmyd Duil-looking creature standing in the outside doorway. The archer of Endil was about to fire off an arrow.

“No, stop, this is Melias. He works for me,” Dorenn said. He put his hand up to ward off the archer.

“This foul creature?” the archer said.

Melias looked at the archer perplexed, then he addressed Dorenn. “Do I not appear to be Melias?”

“No, my friend, you appear before us as a Brae Daun Duil.”

Dorenn led him into the common room where Shey had to steady Veric’s hand before he loosed dragon spines at Melias. She had also almost panicked when she saw him until she remembered Dorenn talking about Melias’ transformation.

“Why is Melias visible?” Dorenn asked.

“It’s the illusion over the village,” Shey said. “It deceives our eyes, but what is supposed to deceive us can’t because there is already one illusion in place. When Melias shifts from his true form to man, it is a deception. The side effect of the illusion already in place is truth of perception, which allows us to see Melias as he really is, just as a mindwielder would.”

“Which confirms there is a mindwielder somewhere nearby casting this illusion,” Gondrial said.

Melias put his scaled claw on Dorenn’s shoulder. “This is urgent! Dorenn, I bring you the message you seek from the master. He is still imprisoned beneath the citadel at Lux Enor.”

“The master?” Gondrial asked.

“King Amarantus,” Dorenn said. “I brokered a deal with King Amarantus and Dravenclaw, the leader of the exiled dragons, to help us regain the Sacred Land. With the Western army gone, we needed to find a new army. I needed to bring both dragon factions together or one would come out to fight the other, rendering both armies useless to us.”

“What about the armies of Trigothia?” Lady Shey asked. “I have some influence there.”

“One step at a time, but aye, Trigothia, too, if we can keep them from fighting each other.” He noted Shey’s strange gaze. “I will explain what I mean in a moment; I am anxious to hear what Melias has to report!” He nodded to Melias. “Go ahead, you may report in front of everyone present.”

“The master says to wait until you hear from Ianthill before you try to return to the Sacred Land. He also says that Naneden knows of the rescue of Kimala but doesn’t care. He said the tyrant gave her a mission from which she will not return.”

“He allowed her to be rescued?” Dorenn asked.

“Aye, that is the master’s take on it. Be wary of her.”

Dorenn shook his head as if trying to clear it. “I had forgotten about Ianthill, too. Where has he gone?”

Seandara spoke up. “I may have an idea where Ianthill might be.”

“Where did you come from?” Dorenn said. He noticed Jindara there as well. “I thought you were both in the room with Rennon.”

“We both came back out here,” Seandara said. “I know where Ianthill is.”

“Seandara, no. Be silent,” Jindara instructed.

“They must already know, Cousin, or at least, they deserve to know.” She turned back to the group. “King Amarantus sent Mother and Ianthill to the Sacred Land. King Amarantus wanted them to go to the place where the Oracle met his fate. Mother sent me and the archers here to join your ranks and help if needed. She learned about the Dramyd attacks you have endured. The king of dragons has talked to his seers, and he is concerned.”

“Why are Ianthill and Queen Sildariel in the Sacred Land?” Lady Shey asked. “What does the king of dragons know that makes him so interested?”

“Better yet, why is the king of dragons captured, and why is he involved with us? I thought dragons kept to themselves,” Gondrial said

“Because I remember more of my predictions than I led you to believe,” Morgoran interjected. “And history doesn’t have everything correct about the War of the Oracle.”

“If you are talking about a possible resurrection of the Oracle, don’t forget that the land can regenerate but he certainly cannot,” Lady Shey said. “I watched the mindwielders utterly destroy him.”

Morgoran collected his thoughts. “I saw the Oracle, in one of my visions, rise again, but I don’t know how or why.” He put his hand on his forehead. “I think we should discuss all this after we find out why we are under an illusion spell. I am getting a headache from trying to keep the illusion from clouding my senses.”

“All right,” Dorenn said. “How do you discover a mindwielder and stop his illusions?”

Chapter 8: Ashes of Summer

Veric kissed Shey on the top of her head and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” Dorenn asked.

Veric stopped and turned to face him. “Illusions and such are the domain of wizards and wielders. You all are capable of handling such tasks. You, Dorenn, were chosen by Sylvalora to help me find her, and now he has done it. I must go to the Sacred Land and find Ianthill and Sildariel.”

“What? How?” Dorenn asked.

“Sylvalora and I agreed that if she was lost to me and I ever needed to find her, she would seek refuge with Queen Sildariel. You have enlightened me. Sildariel is in the Sacred Land and so is Sylvalora. Tell the innkeeper to keep my silver and a room ready for my return with my beloved.” He continued to exit.

Gondrial scratched his head. “Am I the only one who thinks Veric’s conclusions about finding Sylvalora are really far-fetched?”

Lady Shey sighed. “Even if I agreed with you, there is no way to stop him. Father is like a dog with a bone, and he will be until he finds Mother.”

Dorenn cleared his throat. “All right, we need to regroup and find out how this illusion works.” He glanced at the closed wooden door behind him. “We need Rennon or Deylia or both.”

“Which is exactly why the mindwielder wants him out of the plan,” Morgoran said. “Dorenn, your trial—there have been a handful of wielders who could also mindwield equally well. Did you retain any of their knowhow?”

“Sadly, no. I don’t remember anything to do with mindwielding.”

The door to Sanmir’s shop burst open. “Dragons! They are circling the village breathing fire!” It was a village guard.

“Another illusion?” Morgoran said. “The same one now used to throw us off guard, perhaps?”

The village guard stood there for a moment, staring. “Did you hear me? Dragons are about to attack the village!” He was obviously stunned by the inaction of the group.

Dorenn took a step toward the window to peer out. “It could be part of the illusion, but we had better check it out. Melias, you can fly up and check for us, can’t you?”

“If it is a real dragon, don’t go putting Melias in danger; it will rip him to shreds on sight,” Morgoran said. “Let’s go out and find some defensive positions. Shey, you and Gondrial try to remember how to break the illusion completely while the rest of us find a way to defend the village if the threat is real. Melias, fly out of here. If they are real dragons, they will not like your kind here no matter which dragon city they hail from. They will kill you on sight, and don’t try to stay and be a hero. You will be no match for them. Herial, the archer of Endil, and Seandara, head to the lookout tower with bow and arrow.” Morgoran exited the shop.

Dorenn grabbed Gondrial by the arm before he got too far away and whispered, “It’s odd that Veric took off just minutes before. He wouldn’t leave the village if he saw we were under attack, would he?”

“He might if he thought it was an illusion or if it’s an illusion he can’t see. He might not have been aware of the danger at all. It’s hard to say.”

“All right, I just don’t know him well enough yet.”

“Don’t hold your breath. You will probably never be able to understand that man’s behavior. I know I never will.”

Dorenn nodded and let Gondrial go. They both exited the shop and looked skyward.

A few moments later, Dorenn took a defensive position behind a horse watering trough. The two dragons circled overhead, and Dorenn knew they planned to breathe fire down on Brookhaven at any moment. They certainly did not seem to be illusions to him. He searched his surroundings for Lady Shey and Gondrial’s hiding place and found them not far away. He could scoot himself along the wall of the nearest building and join them. He waited for the dragons to circle away, and then he made his move.

“There you are, good,” Lady Shey said. “Gondrial and I determined those dragons are from Draegodor. The white one might even be Shadesilver.”

“They are no illusion,” Gondrial added.

“What are they doing here?” Dorenn asked.

“Circling,” Gondrial replied.

“I can see that. They are supposed to be good, even friendly to us. They are supposed to protect us.”

“Maybe you should tell them that,” Gondrial said. “This could be tricky. I don’t think any of us wants to fight dragons, much less dragons we know.”

“Look!” Dorenn pointed to the main roadway. A figure in white appeared abreast with a figure in red. “Dragon knights. Maybe they can tell us what is happening here.”

“Dorenn, the dragon knight in white is Tatrice, which means the other one, who already has his helm on, is likely to be Bren. I am able to see them clearly,” Gondrial said. “They have weapons drawn. I don’t think they are planning to be friendly at all. In fact, Tatrice has now also put on her helm.”

“Nonsense, I will talk to her.” Dorenn tried to get up, but Lady Shey pulled him back down by the shoulder.

“She is not herself. I have seen this before. First Rennon, our mindwielder, is taken out of the picture, and then we are attacked by friends who are not themselves.”

Gondrial nodded. “Aye, they are under another mindwielder illusion. They think we are their enemy. They probably see us as Dramyds or some other creature attacking Brookhaven.”

“How do we snap them out of it?” Dorenn asked.

“We can try to do it, but we really need another mindwielder and you poisoned the only one we have,” Gondrial said. “Essence has almost no effect on freeing anyone from illusions. Allied with the protection magic from their dragon companions, we won’t stand a chance at breaking it.”

“This is why the wild magic was so feared,” Dorenn said. “No wonder the Enforcers tried to wipe them out or exile them to die in desolation. They can turn friends against one another, not to mention craft convincing illusions.”

“In the days before the war, it wasn’t so much of a problem. Mindwielders can easily see through the illusions of other mindwielders. This sort of thing rarely happened with mindwielder allies in your ranks. That’s why you protected them deep in your line. If their numbers thinned too much . . . well, you can see what would happen,” Lady Shey said.

Gondrial readied his sword. “What concerns me is that someone out there remembers how to mindwield while we are only now just rediscovering it. I fear not all the knowledge of the mindwielders was as lost as we thought.”

“Theosus would be a good ally to have with us right now,” Shey said.

Dorenn hated these moments of indecision where he had to choose between hurting someone he loved or letting someone he loved hurt someone else he loved. It was a no-win proposition. No matter what he did, someone he cared about was going to get hurt.

“We have no choice. We need to stop them from attacking or convince them they are under a spell,” Dorenn said.

“You want us to attack Bren and Tatrice?” Gondrial asked.

“Do you see another solution?” Dorenn said.

The dragons circled above the area where the dragon knights stood poised for the attack. Precious moments came and faded away. Dorenn caught the sight of an eerie, blue flaming arrow climbing skyward toward the dragons, and then another and another. He searched the rooftops, and then he spotted someone on one of the hills almost out of sight.