The Dragon Hunter and the Mage (53 page)

“I’m not going to go into too many details about the discovery, but suffice to say that the place left everyone in the Academy extremely intrigued. It looked to have been built by the same people who built the Bloodhouses and dating spells suggested it was just as old. Not to mention it was completely frozen despite being right in the middle of the desert. These were the golden days of the Academy when the Empire was still young and prosperous, and we were its most influential and rich institution. After the Imperial House, of course.

“Piles of resources were dumped on the Frostbound. Studying it became our biggest priority. What we found, however, made us forever regret this decision. Our archeologists dug through hundreds of feet of ice as hard as steel, and beneath it, they found a frozen, Dragon-shaped body as large as a mountain. We found the corpse of a God.”

A chill crept up Aric’s spine and he shared a look with Leth and Clea. They seemed even more incredulous than he felt.

“What!?” Eliran cried.

“We don’t know much about the creature,” Persea continued, ignoring her audience’s shock. “There were some who believed we should have studied it further, but the majority of the Academy was far too frightened. The preliminary analyses indicated that the creature was not entirely dead. Instead, it was being kept frozen by a remarkably powerful spell stored inside the Glowstone blade of a sword buried in its chest. The Council of Arch-Mages decided to leave it alone. A massive steel crypt was built around it, and several protective spells were cast to make sure no one else found it. The entire affair was made a secret. Some of the lower echelons involved in the excavations even had their memories erased out of precaution.”

“Wait!” Aric said. “You’re saying Sohtyr wants to control a God in the same way that he can control a Dragon? That can’t be possible.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s possible,” Persea told him. “If Sohtyr is allowed to wake the creature up, the consequences will be cataclysmic, whether the mind control spells works or not.”

“You keep referring to it as ‘creature’,” Clea said. “This is a God we’re talking abou
t‒
”

Persea cut her off. “It
was
a God. We don’t know what it is now.”

“You mentioned protective spells,” Leth said. “What exactly are we talking about? Because if you mean those blue creatures, there’s no way they can stop Sohtyr. They’re barely a challenge for the Guild’s trainees.”

“That’s a just a low level security measure,” Persea explained. “Aimed at scaring away random adventurers. There are other, more sophisticated defenses in place.”

“You arrogant fools!” Eliran accused. “That’s why you won’t let me inside the vault upstairs?”

“Eliran!” Persea warned.

“You locked the creature up, but instead of throwing out the key you kept it here, in Lamash.”

The Arch-Mage looked like she was about to burst with rage. They saw her open her mouth and began to scream at the top of her lungs, but all they heard was a garbled, unintelligible mess.

“What?” Eliran asked. “Mistress, you’re breaking off.” She stepped towards the hypervisor and waved her hand. “Stupid old thing…”

Then, a horn blew somewhere near, echoing between the mountain peaks.

Aric cursed. “Raiders,” he said.

Eliran looked from Aric to the scrambling image in the hypervisor. “No, not raiders,” she said. “Sohtyr.”

The sun was hanging low, reddening the sky as if it were ablaze. Lyra watched it quietly with one leg dangling outside the stone railing. Beside her, Nahir slid a whetstone along the steel blade of his sword.

“Must you keep doing that?” Lyra asked. “It can’t possibly get any sharper beyond a certain point, you know?”

“I know how to sharpen a blade, Lyra of Awam,” Nahir told her without taking his eyes from the sword.

“Right. You’re an Honor Guard,” Lyra said. “I bet they gave you your first sword when you were six or something.”

“Five,” Nahir corrected. “I was five at the time. I remember being very happy.”

“
Five
?” Lyra couldn’t believe it. She shook her head. “Did you have any toys at all?”

This time, Nahir raised his head. “Why would I need a toy when I had the real thing?” he asked.

“Hey!” Tharius burst into the small balcony, gasping. “Have you guys seen Aric?”

“He’s in the Mage Tower, I think,” Lyra replied. “With the Witch.”

“Oh, damn it…” Tharius let his head fall to his chest.

“What’s the matter?” Lyra asked

“Ashur is complaining that his shift is over and no one has shown up to replace him,” Tharius replied. “He’s threatening to leave the watch point.”

“So?” Lyra asked.

“What do you mean,
so
?” Tharius asked. “We can’t leave a watch point vacant.”

“Alright, then replace him,” Lyra suggested.

“I just finished an eight-hour shift,” Tharius said. “Can’t you please go?”

“Me?” Lyra asked, pretending to feel offended. “I’m responsible for healing the Witch. It’s not my fault she left the infirmary.”

“What infirmary!?” Tharius argued. “You’re not healing anyone, you’re right here. What difference does it make if you just move to the eastern wing?”

“I’m spending time with my good friend here,” Lyra said. “And we’re having a great time, aren’t we Nahir?”

The Cyrinian glanced from his blade to Lyra and then back to his sword, but didn’t really say anything.

Tharius exhaled loudly. “You’re going to make me go all the way to the Mage Tower?” he asked.

Lyra shrugged. “I’m not
making
you do anything.” She turned to the desert so Tharius couldn’t see her smile.

“And what about you?” Tharius asked Nahir. “This is your watch, but you’re not even looking out.”

The grinding sound of Nahir’s blade stopped.

“No need,” Nahir said. “She’s doing it for me.”

Tharius gritted his teeth. He felt like growling.

“Calm down, Tharius,” Lyra told him. “Just breathe and enjoy the view. Look at this gorgeous sunset over the dunes. Look at that beautiful eagle over there, soaring in the sky. When was the last time we had the chance to just relax?” 

“Eagle?” Tharius asked, then his jaw dropped. “Merciful Ava…”

“What?” Lyra asked.

The metallic singing of Nahir’s whetstone stopped.

“That’s no eagle,” Tharius said.

“Get inside,” Nahir commanded, standing up. He took the horn across his shoulders to his mouth and blew as hard as he possibly could.

Clea ran towards the window and opened it, flooding the room with light and making the sounding horn even louder.

“It’s coming from the main tower,” she said. “From the south, I think.”

“We have to go,” Aric said. “
Now
.” He turned and stormed out of the room.

Without a word, Clea and Leth turned and followed him. Eliran, however, did not move.

“I can’t,” the Sorceress said.

“
Can’t
?” Aric asked. “We need your help. You’re probably the reason he’s here in the first place.”

Eliran shook her head. “No,” she said. “He’s here for that vault. I have to stay. I can’t let him get inside.”

Leth and Aric exchanged a look.

“You think he can get in?” Leth asked. “I thought you said that wasn’t possible without the counter-spell?”

“I also thought I could defeat him before I faced him,” Eliran said. “You should go. Help your friends. But I have to protect that door.”

Aric hesitated. “Alright, they will stay and help you,” he said, indicating Leth and Clea.

“Out of the question,” Eliran told him. “I can’t let you risk your lives for matters of the Academy. Besides, you don’t even know
what
is attacking the main tower. My guess is you’ll need as much help as you can get.”

“Matters of the Academy?” Aric asked. “I heard your boss. If Sohtyr wakes up that thing, it’ll be everyone’s concern.”

“I’m not fond of the idea,” Leth said, “but I agree with Aric. By your own account, you are weaker than this Sohtyr. What chance do you have against him?” 

“I’ll know what to expect this time,” Eliran replied. “Also, I don’t need to defeat him, just make sure he doesn’t get into the vault before his Runium wears off. And I’ll have the protective spells of the vault to assist me.” She stepped closer to Aric and looked him in the eye. “You’ll have to trust me on this one. I know what I’m doing.”

Aric took a deep breath. This didn’t sound right, but across the stone bridge, the alarm kept sounding eerily. Whatever it was, it was dangerous, and his Hunters needed him.

“Fire take this!” Aric let out. “Alright, we’ll deal with whatever it is and get back here as quickly as possible.”

Eliran nodded. “Agreed.”

With a sigh, Aric turned and fled towards the stone bridge, followed by Leth and Clea. They swung the door open and sand swirled around them, forcing them to cover their eyes.  The stone railing was searing hot, but the winds at that height were too strong, and they were forced to hold on as they sped across the bridge. The horn suddenly went quiet and was replaced by the whistling of the wind.

Then, a roar thundered right above them, and Aric felt his stomach sink.

Grimacing, the three of them looked up and saw the massive shape of a red Dragon. The beast opened its mouth and spewed forth a jet of fire.

“Run!” Aric yelled, racing across the bridge.

A wave of fire pursued them as they ran, and Aric rammed the door to the main tower open, bursting through it just in time to escape the blaze. Leth and Clea rolled into a ball, crashing in right next to Aric, the edges of their clothes smoldering and smoking.

“Merciful Ava!” Clea said, gasping.

Aric tried to stand up but fell back down, screaming and holding his shoulder. He cursed and his eyes welled.

“What is it?” Leth asked, rushing to his side. He helped Aric stand up straight.

“I think I dislocated my shoulder,” Aric managed to say. “Do you know how t
o
‒
‒
”

He finished the question with a frightening howl of pain. Leth had just pulled Aric’s arm back into place. “Yes,” he replied.

Aric closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, then gasped as a tear rolled down his face. “Thank you,” he ended up saying. He looked as pale as Eliran’s robes.

“What do we do?” Clea asked. She was trying to look outside, to see where the Dragon was.

“We should be safe as long as we stay inside,” Leth replied, helping Aric back up. “This fortress was designed to be Dragon proof.”

“The lower levels, maybe,” Aric said. “But if that thing wants to burst through the balconies, it can.”

“There’s a lot of fortress to hide in,” Clea added. “And not that many of us.”

“And let a Dragon destroy Lamash?” Aric argued. “No way.”

“What do you suggest?” Leth asked.

“I suggest we kill it,” Aric replied.