The Roar of a Dragon (21 page)

I looked down toward the ground, nodded to myself. Iskandor was right, and his advice didn’t just apply to Mirabelle — it applied to
everything
. I needed to make some choices — and move forward.

‘You are very wise, my friend,’ I said, meeting the dragon’s gaze with a slight smile. I bowed to him. ‘Thank you.’

Iskandor lowered his head in response.

I turned and started to walk away to find a place to reflect on my thoughts, as well as Iskandor’s advice, perhaps get a few hours’ sleep. And then, stricken with a new appreciation for my friend, I turned back to him, smiling a half-smile.

‘Yeah…I wouldn’t trade it for anything.’

Iskandor’s smile was the last image in my mind before I fell asleep.

The next day, we knew we needed to get ourselves together for the infiltration of Delmar. Mirabelle and Iskandor talked the next morning, and the conversation seemed to go well. The group had been informed that we were in possession of the Rod of Therl, and the mood was good. Mirabelle handed it to Timor, who seemed to be eager to hold it. At first glance, it looked to be nothing more than a foot-long rod of wood (amazing how something so small could be so incredibly dangerous), but upon closer inspection, you could see the finely detailed designs etched into the wood; they appeared to be some type of ancient tribal design, though I couldn’t tell for sure. It would have been quite beautiful, if I didn’t know what the Rod had been designed for.

Timor was still admiring the Rod of Therl, running his fingers — almost lovingly, it seemed — over the intricate carvings. Derrick, sitting diagonally from him, leaned away from him.

‘Hey, hey there, don’t go taking any souls with that thing — especially anyone in this clearing, alright?’

Timor, almost in a dreamlike state for a moment, seemed to come back to reality. He glanced at all of us sheepishly. ‘Oh, no, no — I wouldn’t do that. Even if I knew any necromancy, I wouldn’t even begin to know how to use it. It’s just — this is a very powerful magical artifact. Most mages never even get to
see
anything like this in their lifetimes. In my world, this is almost an honor.’

‘You consider it an honor to hold a stick of wood that helped to steal the souls of everyone in an entire city?’ Kirra snapped.

‘You are a thief, Kirra — do not talk to us about honor,’ I retorted, then, for a split second, I analyzed what I’d just said in my mind; I’d just stuck up for Timor.

‘Bastard —’ Kirra snarled, taking a step toward me. Derrick, not even attempting to get up out of his chair, reached out and grabbed Kirra lightly by the arm. With a glance back at him, she stopped, then glared back at me menacingly.

‘Enough of this,’ Iskandor said, softly but with authority. ‘We cannot have any internal struggles, especially now of all times. When this is all settled, and Sirak and the Ther-lor threat is dealt with, there will be plenty of time to return to your petty issues.’

Though Kirra and I still glared at each other, I knew we had just been admonished, chastised for our human tendency to fixate on what could be considered trivial. Iskandor was right: we needed to put our issues aside and deal with our biggest threat.

‘So what’s our next move?’

We were all silent for a few moments, and then Kirra piped up.

‘Well, of course, you want to head to Delmar, but we’re not about to simply stroll in there.’

‘Since we are now in possession of the Rod of Therl, time is no longer against us,’ Timor commented.

‘Why can’t Iskandor simply fly us to the city?’ Kirra asked.

‘I cannot carry everyone,’ Iskandor said, somewhat complacently. ‘It is not the weight, mind you, but the problem of keeping everyone on my back while in flight; without saddles, it will be quite treacherous. Also, it would be best to continue to avoid attention until we arrive in Delmar.’

‘I know several different ways to get into the city — unconventionally,’ Kirra said. ‘Still, I’ve been thinking for a long time, some type of diversion would be nice.’

‘I can act as the diversion,’ Iskandor said evenly. ‘I’m sure a dragon would get their attention.’

‘I’ll go with him,’ Mirabelle chimed in. ‘Another set of eyes up there wouldn’t be a bad thing.’

‘Have you ever flown on the back of a dragon?’ Iskandor asked.

‘No, but I can learn,’ Mirabelle responded with that charming smile.

‘Not a bad idea,’ Derrick responded, ‘but for that to be truly effective, Iskandor would have to do some type of damage, either to the Ther-lor or to the city itself — and since we know the ritual can be reversed, I think it would be best if we took a few lives as possible. None, if we can.’

‘None?’
Kirra responded incredulously. ‘How do you expect to pull this off if we can’t defend ourselves?’

‘I did
not
say we shouldn’t defend ourselves,’ Derrick stated. ‘If we are attacked by the Ther-lor, we do everything necessary to keep ourselves alive so that we can reverse the ritual, including killing them, if we have to. But after we reverse the ritual, they will no longer be the Ther-lor — they will be human beings again, with families.’

Everyone nodded in understanding, and I nodded along with them.

***

It would be two more days until we finally reached Delmar. We took frequent breaks in our traveling during those two days because, although time was a factor, it wouldn’t do us any good to show up at Delmar exhausted. When we finally did arrive, the sun was steadily dipping toward the horizon, and we stood on top of a large hill, looking down on what was once the city of Delmar. Lake Apera sat to the southeastern side of the city, a silent spectator.

We all began to ease our way downhill, down a slope that was almost too steep to be referred to as a hill. At the bottom of the hill sat a grove of trees, and from there, I looked out across the field, at the city of Delmar, my former home. Despite myself, I felt a warm rush of pleasant feelings at the sight of the magnificent city. Angrily, I brushed them away.

Iskandor, in dragon form, sat beside us as we all took in the scene. ‘Well, it’s time.’

I stepped forward and put my hand to the side of his scaly face. ‘Be careful, my friend.’

The dragon smiled. ‘All of you, as well.’ I stepped back then, and he crouched down so Mirabelle could climb on his back. I exchanged a glance with her — she nodded and smiled brightly. Iskandor took off. For a few seconds, I couldn’t help but think that I wouldn’t see him or Mirabelle again. The thought scared me — but I had to put it aside, and move forward.

We snuck as close to the city as we could, which was made easier due to the fact that there were no Ther-lor present outside of it. Iskandor had already been flying over the city, spewing random fireballs here and there. It took a while for the Ther-lor to respond (waiting for Sirak’s command), and then they began to fire the dragonslaying weapons from the walls. Iskandor dodged them easily.

Kirra took us through a secret break in the wall on the east side (Iskandor was flying along the west side), and we found the streets mostly empty. Another break in the inner wall took us to the hill where the castle was, which was completely devoid of Ther-lor. The main gate was standing wide open, and we entered.

The main floor of the castle consisted of a hallway stretching along the interior of walls, surrounding the royal court room. As we cautiously entered, we found the hallway completely deserted. A quick check inside one of the doors leading to the court room by Kirra revealed that that room was empty, too.

‘We have to find our way downstairs,’ I whispered (I’m not sure why I whispered if there was nobody around — perhaps just maintaining the spirit of secrecy). ‘Mirabelle said that the Dyn’osi’s base of operations was in the bowels of the castle in Longchester.’

The others nodded, and we crept down the hallway (still maintaining that spirit) to the eastern side of the building, where the stairs leading down resided. When we reached the end of the hall and the base of the stone stairs, we stopped, and Kirra spoke. ‘Measured footsteps. Watch where you are going, and walk on the balls of your feet.’

Nods all around, and we slowly began our descent down the stairs. They were carpeted, which made sneaking down much easier. It might not have made a difference though, because no matter how quietly he crept, Derrick could not keep his steel armor from creaking. It seemed much louder than usual in the still air.

As soon as we reached the bottom, Derrick whispered harshly for us to split up, and yell loudly if we found anything. I drew my right-hand sword, keeping my left hand free for opening doors. I slowly moved down to the end of one of the hallways, to the door to a room which was much too small for the Dyn’osi to have performed the ritual — but every room needed to be checked.

The room revealed nothing, as did the next, much larger room, and the room after that. Finally, I reached the end of the hallway, and found
nothing
— not even a sign that the Ther-lor had even been there.

We all met again at the base of the stairs, all wearing expressions of confusion and discouragement — not one of us had found
anything
.

‘What is going on?’ Derrick asked no one in particular, with a look of desperation. He turned his gaze to me. ‘I thought you said that the Dyn’osi were performing the ritual in the bowels of the castle in Longchester.’

‘That’s what Mirabelle told me,’ I said, exasperated. ‘I don’t know —’

And then it hit me — the truth, slapping me in the face with a cold feeling of realization.

‘The chapel,’ I whispered, not really aware that anyone was around me at that moment. ‘In the downstairs room where they had performed the ritual, there was also a chapel. I don’t know how I know or why I know, but I know now that we will find them at a chapel.’

‘There is no chapel in this city,’ Derrick said. ‘But there is —’

‘A cathedral,’ I finished for him. ‘Let’s go.’

‘Wait!’ Kirra called out. ‘Let’s check the royal court first — it’s possible I missed something, and we should do it while we’re here.’

‘Okay,’ I agreed. ‘We’ll make a quick pass through there — if you missed something, which I highly doubt, we’ll notice in about two seconds.’

We went back up the stairs, not worrying as much about being quiet for the moment. When we reached the doors to the royal court, Derrick gave the sign to be silent, and we got ready.

‘Ready,’ Derrick whispered.
‘Now.’

For some reason, I was less than quiet, bursting through the door instead of moving silently through it. That didn’t make a difference, because there was only a solitary figure, slumped on the floor behind the throne…

‘Your Majesty!’ Derrick burst out, and rushed to the king’s side.

The king’s skin wasn’t black like the Ther-lor, his eyes weren’t blood red — he was still perfectly human, stirring lightly on the floor, a small pool of blood forming underneath him from a wound on his stomach. His head turned when Derrick crouched by his side.

‘Sir Derrick,’ he breathed.

‘King Baladir,’ Derrick said. ‘Are you alright? How is it possible you are still human?’

‘I…am in possession…of a family heirloom that, unbeknownst to me…is magical in nature.’ King Baladir answered. ‘It protects…me from…all forms…of magic. Lord Sirak…was…quite shocked when he…found out.’ He smiled a grim smile.

‘He didn’t kill you?’ Timor asked. ‘Not that I’m not glad he didn’t, it’s just…surprising, that’s all…’

‘I understand, young man,’ Baladir said with a smile. ‘No, Sirak did not kill me…instead, he delivered a far worse fate. He forced me to stay alive, and watch as my kingdom crumbled into ruin.’

Derrick sighed, and his expression lingered between pain and anger. ‘What happened to you?’ He asked, glancing down at the king’s stomach.

‘When the…dragon started flying around outside,’ Baladir began, ‘he knew that you were out there somewhere, and he stabbed me out of spite.’

Derrick’s head bowed for a moment, and I knew he was mentally kicking himself for not being around when the ritual had taken its effect. I knew he would have rather suffered the effects himself than live with the possibility that he could have done something about it. I knew better, and deep down, I knew he did too — there was nothing he, or I, or anyone else could have done about it.

‘Your Highness,’ Derrick said quietly, ‘I have brought someone to you.’

I looked up in alarm, knowing exactly what Derrick intended to do, and not wanting him to do it at all. But I stood there, helpless, as Derrick uttered the following words:

‘Your Majesty, I give you, once again, Aidan of Delmar.’

King Baladir’s eyes shifted slowly to me as Derrick gestured. Knowing there was no escape, I stepped forward and looked into his eyes, and saw not the eyes of someone who had betrayed me and hurt me very deeply, but the eyes of one of my biggest supporters, an older friend dying before my eyes.

In that moment, my history came full circle.

‘Aidan.’ King Baladir looked at me in realization. ‘So the rumors are true…you…have changed. But I would know you anywhere, no matter how your appearance changed.’

In an act I never thought that I would do again, I bowed before the fallen king. ‘Your Majesty.’

‘Aidan,’ Baladir mumbled. ‘I made a terrible mistake. Please forgive a fool of a king.’

I immediately broke out into tears; I had never expected to hear those words. And whether I deserved them or not, I really didn’t feel that I was worthy of them.

‘There is nothing to forgive, Your Highness,’ I whispered.

‘I really hate to interrupt,’ Timor said in a low voice, ‘but we have no time for this right now.’

I knew deep down that he was right. ‘Timor, I need you to stay and do what you can to heal him.’

‘You need me to destroy the barrier, Aidan —’ Timor began.

I cut him off. ‘I need you to do this for me. You’re the only one who can. I’ll send someone back if we need you.’

Timor looked as if he was about to protest further, but seemed to see in my eyes that there was no convincing me differently. ‘Alright, Aidan. I don’t know if I’ll be able to save him.’

‘Do what you can,’ I said softly. ‘That will mean a lot to me.’ I turned back to Baladir. ‘Where is Norvin, Your Highness?’ I asked him.

‘Norvin,’ King Baladir whispered. ‘He mocked me every day. I would like nothing better than to see him pay for his crimes. But I don’t know where he is…he, Sirak, and some Ther-lor were here not that long ago, but left when the armies began to appear outside the walls.’

‘We’ll find him somewhere,’ I muttered. ‘Let’s go, everybody.’

***

The cathedral in Alexia was located in the northern part of the round city. In order to get there normally, we would have had to pass through the gate to the west, but that led straight into the mouth of the Ther-lor — and that was far too risky.