The Dragon of Time: Gods and Dragons (43 page)

“He’s vanished,” someone gasped.

Scar opened his eyes. He was not at
Inneshkigal and certainly in no courtyard. He scurried about to
examine his surroundings. It was varying degrees of blackness; a
familiar setting. In the blackness was a gossamer wispy mist of
white. It swirled by from every which way like curling smoke. Wide
eyed, and confused, Scar tried to gain his bearings, but this was
not an ordinary realm. There was no up, down, or anything to stand
on. A red glow drew his attention, but before catching it fully,
something like misty scales washed it out of sight. A thunderous
sound accosted his ears, it was akin to an elongated, guttural
warble. The cacophony left a thought in Scar’s head.

The Dragon had said, “
You cannot be here!
No man can be here!”

“I am here, Dragon! Show yourself!”

Another thunderous blast of melodious growls
replied, “
What are you?
”

“The vengeance of a defiled soul. You have my
Ylithia, and I will see you dead.”

A third roar of sheer horror and anger rocked
the mercenary, but his attention was focused on an amber glow. The
gem in his blade pulsated brighter and brighter. He held the blade
over his head and such brilliance erupted that it vanquished the
darkness. The horrid surroundings turned into a radiance; degrees
of light like the sun shone from every direction revealing a great,
misty whorl. Looking upon it, Scar saw two blood red orbs staring
into him. The mist coalesced into the form of a dragon with no
physical substance.

While Scar stared at the great beast, a power
outside his control forced him to spin the sword, take a valiant
leap, and with his left hand extended, fingers spread, he pulled
back his left arm and thrust the blade with all his strength into
the Dragon’s sternum. Mist erupted from the wound like ripples of
water over a placid lake. When Scar landed, he spun and sliced
through more misty scales, causing the mysterious beast to fall
forward. As it arched its lizardine head away, the Dragon Slayer
slashed out Kulshedra’s throat.

A vicious staccato sound erupted from the
dying creature as it said, “
Life and death are the only truths,
but you have neither…what are you?
”

Scar had no answer and no time to think. The
mist exploded around him then snaked into the Dragon gem. With the
mist billowing about him and into the sword, the golden light also
diminished until there was only a great sense of pressure. Drangue
was coming apart without the soul of Kulshedra to sustain it, and
the aftermath was ripping Scar to shreds.

Vertigo overtook him once more. He passed out
for a second. There was no more pressure, only a sense of emptied
lungs. He opened his eyes wide and took such a gasp of air that he
inhaled dirt from the courtyard.

Quickly forcing himself to his feet and
coughing, he looked upon the Kulshedrans around him. They gawked at
him in return. Then they looked at each other, or their hands,
their arms; they all scrutinized one another with such curiosity.
The power of Kulshedra left them. Their bronze tone visibly
lightened to a tanned skin. Everyone was absolutely in the throes
of despair.

When they could handle it no more, they
dropped to their knees. It was then that Labolas stumbled over to
Scar. The mercenary looked at his friend.

“I, I did it,” he said.

“I know,” the archer replied, and raised his
left wrist to gaze upon his bracer. He focused the power of
Kulshedra, but nothing happened. There was only a void there. “Can
you imagine what’s happening in Alduheim or on the Usajan
border?”

Scar frowned and shook his head, saying, “I’m
sorry, Labolas. It had to be done.”

“Certainly,” he whispered. “But what will my
people do now?”

“They will fight for their families and help
to spread the word that Dragons have posed as Gods,” Scar claimed
loudly enough to draw the Kulshedrans’ attention.

Labolas nodded and added, “We should move.”
Scar agreed and made to follow his friend, but faltered and grasped
the archer’s shoulder. “What is it?” Labolas asked.

“I, I remember everything,” Scar gasped. “My,
my name, who I am, what I’m doing….”

“What? What do you recall?”

Scar stared into his friend’s eyes and said,
“I am Sarkany, the Dragon Slayer.”