The Wings of Dragons: Book One of the Dragoon Saga (33 page)

The former general jumped when Rondel spoke
to him, but he stumbled through his depiction. When he finished,
the crone frowned and said, “Iren, show Balear your sword.”

Iren did so, and as Balear looked at it,
Rondel said, “Balear, I need you to remember. Do you see the
symbols on Iren’s blade? Did Amroth’s sword have the same
writing?”

Immediately, Balear responded, “Yes,
exactly.”

Rondel heaved a sigh of relief, but then the
Lodian began again, “Wait. Wait a second.” The old Maantec tensed.
Balear said, “This sword has three circles. Amroth’s only had
two.”

Swearing, Rondel got up and began storming
around the woods. Iren said nothing, but he understood. That third
circle kept the dragon’s will in check. Without it, the dragon’s
and knight’s psyches could merge. Whoever had reforged the
Karyozaki had, whether by accident or design, done so incorrectly.
They’d only engraved the first two circles. It explained why
Amroth’s behavior had changed so drastically since becoming the
Fire Dragon Knight. He wasn’t Amroth anymore; Feng had manipulated
his thoughts and twisted his mind.

More than the number of soldiers they faced,
that fact worried Iren most of all. Judging by Rondel’s reaction,
she felt the same way. After all, as little experience as Iren had
as a Dragon Knight, Amroth had even less. Had Amroth’s sword been
forged correctly, Iren might have stood a chance against him.
Feng’s dominance, however, made such victory unlikely.

Iren opened his mouth to ask Rondel how to
deal with Feng, but as he did, Minawë leapt to her feet and
shouted, “I see them!”

Everyone rushed to her side. Balear’s
trembling got so bad Iren feared the poor man might faint. Iren
felt much the same way as he noticed, on the horizon, flickering
torches pierce the night. Their line stretched for miles. Iren
couldn’t feel his individual heartbeats. They came so fast that
they all blurred together.

Not long after the torches appeared, faint,
rhythmic impacts reached his ears: drums, pounding out the
unceasing march of the Lodian army. Rondel’s face hardened further,
if that were even possible. “Minawë, I trust all the Kodamas have
taken their positions?”

She nodded, but Iren was skeptical. Despite
Minawë’s assurances that six hundred Kodamas had gathered, Iren had
seen barely a dozen, and then only on the way here days ago. He
hoped Aletas hadn’t decided to have her people retreat and make
Iren and Rondel fight alone.

If Rondel shared that concern, she didn’t
voice it. Instead, she said, “Good, then listen carefully. When the
enemy gets here, Iren, I want you to help the Kodamas battle the
Lodian soldiers.” She clenched her fists and teeth. “I will fight
Amroth alone.”

Iren leapt forward in protest. “You can’t!
You told me yourself you couldn’t match him!”

Balear nodded his agreement. “The Lodian
army only has conscripts. If the king falls, they’ll likely flee.
We should target him first.”

Rondel replied, “True, but five thousand
soldiers can still do a great deal of damage before Amroth dies. We
must keep them away from the forest as much as possible. Iren, I
intended to train you for at least several more months, maybe
years, before we faced this foe. Even then, I planned to confront
him together. We no longer have that luxury. The Kodamas need help
against the Lodian soldiers, which means we can only field one
Dragon Knight against Amroth. I’ll have a better chance against him
than you would. Besides,” she flashed him a fierce expression,
“Amroth wants me in this fight. This is my fate. I will follow
Okthora’s Law.”

“
Evil must be annihilated.”
Iren and Rondel said it at the same time. The young Maantec choked
back tears. Rondel was throwing her life away, yet he could do
nothing to stop her.

“
Rondel, what should I do?”
Minawë asked.

“
Take Balear and rendezvous
with the other Kodamas. Make sure Balear gets a bow. He’ll need
one.”

The Kodaman princess protested, “I want to
stay and fight with you and Iren!”

To Iren’s amazement, Rondel reached up and
placed a gentle hand on Minawë’s shoulder. “You really are your
parents’ daughter. I know you want to help, and that’s why I’m
asking you to go to the other Kodamas. Get into the trees; we’ll
need all the support we can get.”

Minawë looked like she might argue, but then
Iren stepped forward. “I’ll be counting on you,” he said. “You and
I fought hard to cross Lodia and get here safely. During that
journey you showed a resolve unmatched by anyone I’ve ever met. If
we battle this night with half of your courage, I know we’ll
triumph.”

Despite herself, she smiled, eyes shimmering
as she replied, “You moron.” Then she motioned to Balear and said,
“Let’s go.”

The group separated, Iren and Rondel
stepping just beyond the forest. As Iren crossed the tree line, he
heard Minawë call out, “Hey, Iren!”

He turned, and despite the gloom, he could
see that her face glowed with confidence. “When we win this
battle,” she shouted, “let’s go home to Yuushingaral together!”

Nodding slightly, he answered, “You got
it.”

With that, Minawë and Balear departed,
leaving Iren and Rondel alone on the forest’s edge. Lodia’s army
was now only a few miles away. As they approached, a torch at the
front of the column erupted into a vast pillar of fire. Iren spat.
Amroth obviously cared little about surprise or conserving his
magic. He walked boldly, his flame creation twisting and licking
the sky as though longing to consume the heavens themselves.

Rondel unsheathed the Liryometa. “I’ll draw
Amroth away from the main force. Wait here and let Lodia’s army
come to you.”

“
Why? They’ll overwhelm me
and charge into the forest. I can fight more freely on the
plain.”

“
All this time, and you
still talk back,” Rondel retorted. “Just do as your teacher
instructs. The Kodamas will trim their numbers for you.”

Iren cocked an eyebrow. “What Kodamas? I
still have yet to see this mythical force.”

Rondel smirked. “That’s the point, slacker.
You can’t see them,” she pointed at Lodia’s army, “and neither can
they.”

“
You know, you’re supposed
to keep secrets from your enemies, not your allies.”

“
Sometimes it’s strategic
to do both.”

Iren pouted. “That’s a bunch of nonsense,
and you know it. Stubborn old hag.”

“
Petulant
child.”

“
Withered bird!”

“
Numbskull!”

The pair glared at each other several more
seconds. Then, on the verge of battle, with death steadily
approaching, they both laughed. Rondel walked a few paces toward
the advancing Lodian force and, without looking back, said,
“Whatever happens, I want you to know I’ve never had a better
student.”

Crossing his arms, Iren said doubtfully,
“Oh? I suppose that’s because you’ve never had another
student?”

The old woman craned her head around and
shot Iren an impish smile. Then, activating Lightning Sight, she
launched into the night.

* * *

Rondel bounded across the plain, the
Liryometa gripped in her left hand. It took all she had not to look
back at Iren. She wondered if she’d prepared him for what he would
soon face and whether or not he would survive the night.

It was all the more reason for her not to
delay. At top speed she flashed toward the Lodian army, even
knowing that such a direct approach made her vulnerable to arrow
fire. She doubted Amroth would have his archers shoot at her,
though, for two reasons. First, he’d seen her easily dodge arrows
back in Veliaf. Second, and of far greater importance, she was
certain that Amroth would want to kill her personally.

As Rondel approached, the pillar of fire
guiding the Lodians vanished, and Amroth stepped forward. Rondel
could barely tell that he was the man she remembered from Haldessa.
His eyes gleamed sulfurous yellow like a Yokai’s, and a burning
crown adorned his head. Even his skin had changed. Gray and
cracked, it looked like freshly cooled lava.

When Amroth spoke, Rondel grimaced. His tone
was hard and gravelly, not at all like the charismatic voice he’d
once possessed. “Rondel, how good of you to save me the trouble of
burning down the forest to find you.” He grinned. “I see you have
the Liryometa again. That means Balear betrayed me after all. Where
is the fool? I’ll kill him second, after you of course.”

Ignoring him, Rondel pointed at the
Karyozaki, glowing red in his right hand. “For shame, Amroth! Still
hiding after all this time? Why don’t you put that silly sword in
the hand it was meant for?”

The king cackled maniacally. “So that’s your
plan! Rondel, for someone so ancient, you certainly lack wisdom. Do
you honestly think this army will desert me if it learns I’m a
Maantec? Fear makes them follow me. Tell them I’m a Maantec! Tell
them I’m a Left! Their fear will increase that much more, and
they’ll fight all the harder to save themselves from my wrath!”

Rondel scowled. “Nadav would weep if he saw
how far his beloved Feng’s standards have fallen.”

Amroth’s laughter turned to fury in an
instant. “How dare you speak his name, murderous wench! I’ll have
my revenge, and all the world will know Nadav’s rightness, his
absolute truth that strength alone brings about peace.”

Lightning Sight’s sparks cascaded across
Rondel’s eyes. “You have no clue,” she said, her voice venomous,
“about the meaning of strength.”

Craning his neck, Amroth called over his
shoulder, “Captain!” A young man stepped nervously forward wearing
hastily and poorly crafted leather armor. Rondel felt heartened.
Amroth’s army might have size, but it had no fight in it.

“
Send all troops into the
forest,” the king ordered. “Kill everyone you encounter, man,
woman, or child.”

The soldier gulped, clearly unenthused by
the order, but he saluted and departed rapidly. Amroth then turned
back to Rondel, leering down at her. “You say I don’t know about
strength? Why don’t you teach me, then?”

Rondel allowed the faintest of smiles to
cross her face. She’d hoped for this reaction. With her enhanced
speed, she dashed to her left and called out, “Come on!”

Flames engulfed the king, and he rocketed
after her. His captain gave the signal, and the army resumed its
march.

Rondel zigzagged away from the main force,
always keeping Amroth out of reach. When half a mile separated her
from the army’s nearest flank, she stopped and caught her breath
for a few precious seconds while Amroth shot toward her. The speed
the fire granted the king astounded her. Although it didn’t match
her own, the difference was less than she’d anticipated.

Amroth stopped twenty feet from Rondel,
flames licking around his feet. He held the Karyozaki aloft, now in
his left hand.

“
One question,” Rondel
said.

“
Of course,” he answered,
dripping with false sincerity, “I’d hate for you to die
unfulfilled.”

“
That Karyozaki isn’t
Nadav’s. Where did you get it?”

He clenched the sword. “I suppose you should
know,” he replied in his harsh voice, “considering that everything
I’ve done for the last thousand years has been because of you. That
day in Serona, Nadav, the greatest Maantec in history, perished
because of your treachery. I vowed then to get revenge on you and
the cursed Kodamas who caused our Maantec Empire to fall. I
retrieved Nadav’s Burning Ruby, but without its Ryokaiten, it had
no power. For centuries afterward I traveled Raa, searching for
anyone who knew the secrets of creating Ryokaiten. Desperate, I
sought out the Yokai. Their magic can’t compare with ours, but they
do have great skill in enchanting weapons. Their leader, the Oni
Hezna, agreed to help me reforge the sword.” He snarled, “That
beast betrayed me, though, and when we finally completed the
Karyozaki, he took it and became the Dragon Knight instead of
me!”

“
And a much finer knight he
made,” Rondel sneered. “Unlike you, he had the sense not to trust
Feng and only sparingly used the dragon’s magic. Amroth, do
yourself and Lodia a favor. Throw away that sword! Neither you nor
Hezna had a complete picture of what the Karyozaki was or how to
forge it. Without the third kanji circle, Feng will consume you!
It’s already begun; I see it in your face and hear it in your
voice. I know you desire revenge against me, but I also know that,
deep down, you truly want peace for Lodia. You’ll have neither if
Feng takes over your body!”

Amroth didn’t answer immediately, and Rondel
began to hope that he would listen to her. The ploy was desperate,
but if she could separate Amroth from Feng’s influence, maybe, just
maybe, she could avert the coming tragedy.

The king closed his eyes and chuckled
lightly. “I couldn’t throw away this sword even if I wanted to.
Feng would never allow it.”

With a curse, Rondel raised her blade. As
feared, nothing remained of Amroth’s former self. She had no
choice. Evil must be annihilated.

The pair squared off across the expanse of
field, but neither moved. After several minutes of the stalemate,
Amroth resumed his earlier cackling. “I knew you wouldn’t!” he
mocked. “Thanks to the Kodama-Maantec War and Feng, I know your
fighting style. You rely on those eyes, because they let you react
to any attack by the enemy. Therefore, you’ll never make the first
attack. You’ll wait to see how I move.”

Rondel flinched but said nothing.

“
Normally, that’s a solid
plan,” the king continued, “but not against me. You can respond to
my movements, but what if I don’t move at all?” The flames licking
Amroth’s feet accelerated, rising around his body and engulfing him
in a fireball. The king’s feet lifted off the ground.