The Green Dragon: A Claire-Agon Dragon Book (Dragon Series 3) (22 page)

Elly felt sorrow and struggled to gain his feet. He looked to his left and saw a black charred area about the size of a very large table, with the ground black as night. It was the very same place that his master and the Kesh mage had fought. There was no sign of either of them.

A loud, unnatural-sounding cough came from behind him, and he turned to face the dragon. It was lying on its belly, scales blown off of it and a large black scorched mark upon its massive chest, which heaved as it tried to breathe. Its massive front claws still pinned their victims to the ground.

Lucina had a single claw piercing her abdomen. Blood flowed from the wound, and she was still, but conscious. She looked at Elly, tried to speak, but only blood came from her mouth. Her large, gauntleted hands were wrapped around the claw as she struggled to keep it from piercing her any further and her sword was embedded in the dragon’s foot.

Helvie seemed unhurt, but a sharp claw rested upon her throat, and she struggled to breathe. The large foot of the dragon rested around her little body and she was suffocating. She also looked at Elly with terror, and the fear of death in her eyes. They both had little time to live.

“Did you not hear me, Arnen?” the dragon said, black, bloody ichor coming from its mouth and dripping down its exposed fangs until it pooled beneath her.

Elly was startled to hear the massive creature speak, and it took him a moment to compose himself. “No, what did you say?”

The dragon nodded, its burned-out eyes glazed over a sickly white color, but it tilted its head as if listening. “Come closer,” it said.

Elly paused for a moment and then saw Helvie’s face turning blue. Slowly he walked over to the great dragon and stood within its range to bite him. Elly wondered if he was stupid or brave.
Most likely stupid
, he thought to himself.

The dragon coughed again, blood splattering everywhere, and Elly used the sleeve of his dirty robe to wipe it from his face, but he held his ground. “A life for a life?” the dragon asked.

“What do you mean?” Elly asked.

“Do not play games with me, Arnen,” the dragon said angrily. “I will kill your companions now, then.”

The claws clenched, and both Lucina and Helvie struggled under the pressure. “No, wait,” Elly said.

The claws released a bit more, and Helvie gasped, breathing in deep breaths of air while Lucina resumed breathing, never releasing the claw that had gored her. “Swear an oath on your precious Mother,” the dragon began. “You will protect one life to spare these lives.”

Elly nodded, not understanding, but he complied, thinking only to save the noble woman and her protector. “I swear by Agon and all that is holy, on the honor of my order, that I will protect the life you give me.”

The dragon nodded, laying its head down into the pool of blood. “Come quickly. I have little time.”

Elly approached the beast and knelt in front of it, listening as it whispered draconian secrets that no human had ever heard before. When it was done, it spoke one last time, louder. “Go now, and fulfil your oath.”

Elly stood and laid a hand on the great snout of the dragon. It lifted first the claw over Helvie, releasing her, and then it pulled its claw from Lucina, dropping it to the ground and freeing the holy warrior. Blood poured from her wound, and she lay there, dying. Elly ran to her and gave her his last vile of healing water, and he laid a hand on her forehead and began the process of mending her body.

Silently, the great dragon drooped its head, lying it on the ground between it’s massive legs and with one final sigh of escaping air, it breathed its last. The green dragon was dead.

After sometime, Elly stood and faced Helvie who sat crying silently on the ground. “Will she live?” Helvie asked, looking up and drying tears from her eyes.

Elly nodded. “Yes. She may never fight again, but she will live. She will need sometime to heal. You must care for her.”

“I will,” Helvie said.

“Well done, Master Elister,” Diamedes said, his robe burned and his face scorched black with soot.

“You live,” Elly stated, smiling at the historian.

“I do, and if we’re to save any more lives, we need to act quickly.” The historian looked around.

Elly nodded and then moved to the pillars where last he saw Dunric and Tristan. He found Dunric first, lying close by, badly burned as he rushed to the aid of his master. He was too close to the blast, but he looked pasty white, with some soot over his face and arms. “Did you help him?” Elly turned to Diamedes.

“Yes, he carried the healing water, and I gave him his own dose.”

The wizard that Tristan was fighting was not seen, until they noticed a single leg sticking out from a mound of dirt, rock, and soil. It appeared that the Kesh died by the hand of the elemental while fighting to the last.

Lastly, Elly noticed Tristan lying on the ground nearby, and Diamedes grabbed his robe. “Let me go,” Elister said.

“He’s dead,” Diamedes said.

The historian released his grip, allowing Elly to walk over to his friend and colleague. Tristan was dead, a huge hole in his chest from the electrical blast that the wizard had put into him. Elly felt tears welling in his eyes. He cradled his friend’s head in his arms and wept.

Diamedes came and spoke urgently. “We must care for your friends quickly, or they will die.”

“Nothing can prevent that,” Elly said.

“You are sure?” the historian asked, prompting something from within the druid.

“Wait, there is one thing we can do, but I don’t see how it will help. A Kesh wizard will never help us.”

Diamedes placed a hand on the druid’s shoulder and then whispered to him. “Time is precious. Let’s see to it that they are given as much as we can.”

Elly nodded, stood, and went to work.

In the end, the companions needed the help of the dryads to move their wounded and bury their dead. Gloria and Tristan were buried at the base of each pillar, with a large granite rock set on top of each grave to act as a headstone. There was no sign of the good master Greyson, and so they piled a large cairn of stones in the place where he had died to mark his passing. 

The three Rangers, along with Beth, were taken back to the druid abbey where they were placed into the Heart of Enchanted Rest. Elizabeth was placed on the center slab and the three Rangers were placed around her. Elly explained to Helvie and Lucina that only one of their own could awake and restore the Rangers to full health and life. Elly lacked the ability and needed at least one of his other companions to do so. He would need Beth to beckon Dunric, Wulfric and Edric, since Tristan was gone, and Beth could only be called back by a Kesh wizard, which wouldn’t happen in his lifetime. So the four companions, druid and three Rangers would sleep in the bosom of the Mother for all time.

Sun had mobilized her sisters and assisted in transporting them through the forest and into their final resting places. There were a few Kesh survivors but Sun informed them that they were now resting as guests in the dryad’s abodes and would not return for many centuries. Agon would not see them again for quite some time.

Back in Vulkor the barbarians had followed their last instructions and attacked the city, first hitting the Kesh and Ekin armies. The two clashed and killed one another, until a relief force sent from Ulan Utandra, the capital of Ulatha, under the good duke Uthor, arrived to free the besieged city.

The Ekians sued for peace, and the Kesh survivors ran back to their ships, and then traveled back to their homeland for what was to come. Prince Egden was to be confined to his kingdom under penalty of death, so decreed Duke Uthor. His father would be dealt with once the Dragon War came to an end.

Helvie watched over Lucina, who was carried to Vulkor later in a special litter made by the dryads. It was rumored that in all the land, it was the first and last time that any city dweller of Vulkor would see a dark dryad. The dryads returned to the Greenfeld and prepared for the transit of Dor Akun. They would not remain on Agon during the passing and fled to the safety of their other dimensional homes, but before doing so, they brought back the babies for the town of Blackwell.

Elister was alone and left to himself. He had no master, no fellow druids, and no companions to speak with. What he did have was a message from the master of all the Arnen, that he was to come to Ulatha and care for a special forest nearby that bordered on the realm of Kesh. The forest was called the Earlstyne.

He had one last task to perform, an oath that he gave to save two lives. He walked deep into the heart of the Greenfeld, past the many animals and trees and bushes, into a deadly, evil place, enchanted with charms of protecting. Elister spoke the words that the dragon had given him, and the spells faded, allowing him to enter the dragon’s lair unmolested.

There, he found an egg. It pulsed with life, and it was about ready to enter the world. This would not be something his order would approve of, but he made an oath on his order and by the honor of his duty to the Mother. He would not break it. Gently, he wrapped the egg in his robe and lifted it, carrying it from the dragon’s lair.

The baby dragon inside had a name. It was female, and Tyranna had given her a name, a name that Elister was to carry with him and grace upon her once it was born.

The dragon’s name would be
Ariella Zaloynaya Drakona
, and she would make history

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