Vegenrage: Dragon Reclaim (26 page)

Blethstole catches his bottom jaw and has the magical ability to reattach it. He settles to the ground, and there, he heals. He shakes his head from the enormous force and power that he has now felt up close. He knows that Vegenrage is more than equal to his magical power, and for the first time, he feels that he is outmatched. He crushed Vegenrage in his jaws, and still, this human ripped his bottom jaw from his head and lives. The other dragons settle to the ground by Blethstole.

“I had him by the leg.”

“Me too, Bonaro. I had his other leg.”

“I had him by the arm.”

“I had his other arm, Icerock.”

Dribrillianth looks at Blethstole. “That Vlianth has some kind of way of escaping death. You gonna be okay, Blethstole?”

“Yeah, I will be fine. He is very powerful. Even caught off guard, he managed to survive. It was the female. She saved him this time.”

“Looks like we are running out of options. We lost Grapore and Browgage.”

“I know, Gairdennow. This has been a catastrophic day for the dragons. I am at a loss. We caught Vemenomous and Vlianth both off guard, and they both survived. We put together an attack to take out the magic-using races of man. Our goals, Vemenomous, Vegenrage, and the female, have all escaped us. Every time we get them cornered, they elude us and deal death to our kin. I guess there is more at work here, something out of our control, and I don’t know how to fight against it.” Blethstole lowers his head in disbelief to what he just said.

“We should have listened to Mother. She said our only chance was to unite with the races of man, and we chose to fight them. I guess, at this point, we can continue to hunt our main targets as a united species, or we can go to our homes and fortify and wait, hiding from the races of man like we did a thousand years ago.”

The dragons look at one another after Dribrillianth’s poignant statement. “Dribrillianth and the rest of you, we are not done yet. We are just getting started. I know the races of man have grown very strong, but it’s time to put some new pawns into play and throw the races of man off guard.”

“What pawns? What are you talking about, Blethstole?” Gairdennow asks curiously.

Blethstole lowers the snout of his face to the ground and shakes his head. “Oh, it is time to pull out something I have been holding on to for a long time, and I think it is time to use a very special weapon that I had hoped I would never need.” The dragons curiously lean toward Blethstole.

Farrah has the ability to teleport to places she has been to. She did not know this until she caught Vegenrage in the air and said, “Take us to the place I dream of.” She says this, and the two of them are teleported to Vollenbeln. It looks very different here now. Vegenrage’s home has reformed itself, only now there is two feet of snow on the ground, and it is very cold. There are tall pine trees that have grown fifty feet high about fifteen feet from the left side of Vegenrage’s home that has reformed. It is very cold, and huge chunky snowflakes are slowly falling. Farrah pulls her leather clothing from Parnapp and dresses herself. It is dark here now like the middle of the night. Farrah says, “Warm him, clothe him, protect him.” She now has the ability to create clothing as a warm brown jacket covers Vegenrage, protecting him from the cold. There is no moon, and the light is faint with a few stars in the night sky. The white snow reflects the starlight and allows them to see, but Vegenrage is in bad shape. The cold has them shivering, and their breath is thick in the air. Farrah puts her hands on Vegenrage’s chest. “Let my strength be yours. Let my warmth be yours. Let my heart pump life into you.” Her hands start to glow bright white light. Vegenrage takes a deep breath, and white lightning bolts form from one point high in the sky above them and shoot down all around them, stopping short of the ground and arching into Vegenrage. The white landscape covered in snow is illuminated, while the lightning flashes, and the wounds to Vegenrage begin to heal. The holes in his chest, hips, and back close. He opens his eyes briefly as he too works on healing his backbone and lungs. A few moments later, Vegenrage stands. He reaches his arms to the sky and screams as white lightning shoots from the sky above him and right into his fingertips.

“This is my home, this is my realm, and none shall enter without my knowing. The air is my fingers, the snow my skin, the earth my touch, and the trees my ears.” His voice echoes loudly over the snow-covered land, and he reaches his hands back into the air, shooting white lightning from his fingers and thumbs.

“Vegenrage, what is going on? What has happened here?”

“Come on, Farrah. Let’s go inside, and I will explain.” Vegenrage grabs her hand and leads them into his home now covered in snow. They get inside, and it looks as it did before, only now it is empty. The fire pit is in the center of the room, but the walls are empty, and the floor is bare. Vegenrage waves his hands in the air, and a fire starts. The walls start to form the shelving that was there before the dragons destroyed it. His golden table and pillows reform, and all the books that were once on the shelves begin to pop out of the walls and fill the shelves once again just as they were before. Farrah watches in amazement as Vegenrage’s home comes to life, and the warm golden light warms the air, and she removes her leather clothing and puts it back in Parnapp. “It’s about time you got me out of that cold. I was freezing my bottom off.”

“Parnapp, you have come back to life.”

“That’s right, baby. Dad, he did good. This one is a real showstopper.”

Behaggen comes to life. “Yes, he did, Parnapp. He did real good. Wherever the
Wogenkeld
is right now and whomever may read it will soon discover that it is a complete phony.”

“Wait a second. I am confused. What is going on here? Vegenrage, did you somehow replace all your real books with fakes?”

“Yes, I did. I had studied three of the books that Hornspire wrote, and they all led to the possibility of something bad happening to me here, and the real treasure here was and is knowledge. I had replaced all the real books with fakes that had magical writing in them. Whatever the dragons did with the books like forming one very powerful book they call the
Wogenkeld
is a complete fake, and the writing in the book will vanish. Actually, it already has. The dragons were able to create the
Wogenkeld
because the magical writing in them are the same as the books they thought they destroyed, but opening the book at any time after it has been created will cause the words to vanish and the book to crumble.

“Brilliant, Vegenrage. Brilliant. The dragons have to be at wit’s end by now. They have suffered greatly and are becoming less and less of a threat to all of us. The one big issue is Vemenomous. He is very powerful. He has your ability but much more strength. He grows stronger by feeding on the dragons, and now he is their biggest threat,” Behaggen says.

“Vegenrage, what happened outside? Why is there snow, and what was all that lightning?” Farrah asks.

“My home is my strength. While we were away, it reshaped itself with some obvious changes. I am starting to understand the relationship between time and living here in the Maglical System. It is much different here than anywhere else. Here, you may be alive for what may be days or weeks, but the earth, the land, and the forests and mountains, they seem to age fifty years or a century. It is very strange, but it is the effect magic plays on life here. We have been away from Vollenbeln for what, a couple of weeks, but it has changed and grown in terms of time for at least sixty years. Why we don’t age like the land does is still a little unclear to me. The entire realm of Vollenbeln grew stronger, and so did I. I am beginning to sense the air and the surroundings outside. I will know if there are any intruders here. I can draw lightning with a thought, I can use the trees as ears, and I can feel with the earth. My magical strength is growing. This means the dragons are losing. They draw strength from the Maglical System and the treasures of man, but as their numbers decline, their drain on the magic lessens, and there is more magical strength to go around. I can feel that many magic-using races of man have been lost as well. I don’t know completely what is happening to the Maglical System, but change is happening. You are growing stronger as well, Farrah. The images plaguing your mind cannot reach you here in Vollenbeln, and when we leave, you will be able to block them on your own.”

“Are you saying the dragons will leave the races of man alone now?”

“I don’t know. I think they have to focus on surviving as a race right now, and Vemenomous means to kill them all and us, but he cannot reach us here, not without us knowing about it. The time has come, Farrah. We should go to Logantrance. I think he is in the Great Erken, and Erkensharie has somehow avoided the third Dragon Feast. Ugoria was hit hardest among the races of man.”

“I can feel my magical strength grow just as you said it would. I have magic. It is just there just like it is in you. I can block the images now. I know I can.”

“Come on, Farrah. Let’s go to Logantrance in Erkensharie. I think it is time we go to his home in Richterblen. I have grown greatly here in my home, and his home has to be much more protected than mine. I bet he knew all along that the dragons would not discover his secrets there, and I bet he has set traps that are in motion on the dragons now.”

“What about Mournbow and Inglelapse and the people with them?”

“We have seen them to the Elbutan Forest, and there in the Krinston realm, they will find others and unite. If they are in need of help, they will call to us. My curiosity is getting me now. I have to go find out what kind of damage the dragons have done. Come on. Let’s go to Erkensharie.”

“Okay, Vegenrage. Let’s go.”

CHAPTER 20
The Erkensharie Surprise

Vegenrage draws a Dimension Door, and he and Farrah step through and arrive in the courtyard in Erkensharie. They are met by the voice of Logantrance, yelling “Wait! Hold your arrows. It is Vegenrage and Farrah.”
Vegenrage and Farrah look around to see elves in and around the trees, releasing the draw of their arrows that are facing right at them. Glimtron and the dwarves, along with Logantrance and some of the elves, approach them.

“Vegenrage, my boy, where have you been? I have been waiting for you.”

“Logantrance, I was caught by Blethstole yet again, but this time, Farrah was there to save me. Valvernva and Mourbarria have been destroyed by the dragons. We were helping the survivors from Mourbarria and Valvernva make their way to the Krinston realm to unite with any other surviving people there. Vemenomous showed up, and I tried sending out signs for the dragons to read so they could locate us, and they did. Fortunately, all the people scattered and have made it to Elbutan. The dragons attacked Vemenomous, and I was caught by Blethstole. I was able to break free from his jaws this time only to be caught by another dragon, and Farrah saved me and teleported us to Vollenbeln. I can tell the dragons did not kill Vemenomous, and the Erkensharie seems to have been spared from this Dragon Feast. Vemenomous has not been killed, and I have not killed any dragons on this day. This leaves only one scenario yet to play out according to the writings of Hornspire.”

“Yes, well, never mind that right now. We are all here, and the dragons have not made any attempt to attack here, which is good news to us all. The beasts of the Ilkergire have attacked from the south, but they found the Treestriders, Vinegrowers, and Terrahawks more than they could handle. Only some orcs and ogres had to be engaged, but they were soon handled by the elves. Come, let us meet with Ulegwahn, and you can share what you have seen so far on the world of Kronton, and then we make for Richterblen.”

Farrah has a crowd around her. All the dwarves are close around her like they just can’t resist her smell and touch, all except for the Dagi who respectfully give her space.

“Eebil, it is so good to see you again and you too, Fimble.”

“Ms. Farrah, I would not believe it unless I was to see it with my own eyes. How someone like you can travel the wilds, face dragons, and not have a scratch on you. Your beauty radiates,” Eebil says, bowing and smiling and kissing Farrah’s hand.

“Eebil, shut up. What would Regalamda say? Ms. Farrah, I am not married, so I can tell you how beautiful you are without feeling guilty like some,” and Fimble gives Eebil a stab with his elbow. The dwarves are all around Farrah and flirting with her like always, and this is very comforting for Farrah. She enjoys the company of the Glaborian dwarves very much, and they always keep her smiling and laughing.

“Farrah, I am going with Logantrance to meet with Ulegwahn. Will you stay and keep company with Glimtron and the dwarves?”

“I would love to. I will be right here until you get back.”

Logantrance and Vegenrage are escorted to the Great Erken by Angribe, and Shastenbree stays in the courtyard, in charge of the bowelves. They walk on this very nice evening for a little while, and then Logantrance teleports them to the throne room guided by Oriapow’s telepathy. “The dragons did not attack at all this day, but that does not mean they won’t attack during the night, which will be here soon.” They arrive to overhear Ulegwahn talking to Oriapow.

Logantrance jumps right into the conversation. “Ulegwahn, the dragons have spared Erkensharie. I fear that means that the elves on Strabalster have not fared as well as us. I have felt the loss of magical life among the elves there. I also feel the Ugorian king has been killed, leaving the Snow Gold Trinket, waiting for a new master. I have also felt the loss of dragon life. I think the dragons have lost too much life already to dare attack us here in Erkensharie.”

“The dragons have seen all the beasts of Ilkergire move northward, and all of them have been destroyed. I bet the dragons were counting on them to engage us, but they never made it far enough into Erkensharie to even tempt our bows. The dragons know they will lose more life if they dare enter here. They have wisely retreated.”

“I sense no dragon or lesser dragon’s presence in or around the Erkensharie that was present here earlier today. I think the dragons have retreated, and we have been spared.”

“This is good news, Oriapow. I will take Vegenrage and Farrah for a short trip. We have to go see how much damage has been done to my home by the dragons. I have a home to rebuild.”

“I shall escort you to the courtyard, Logantrance.”

“Thank you, Ulegwahn. We would like that.”

“Oriapow, will you join us as well?”

“Yes, Logantrance, I have a few things I need to check on here, and I will be right behind you.”

They are all teleported to the courtyard where the sun is just starting to fall out of sight, and the night sky is soon to replace it. Farrah is talking and dancing with the dwarves, and even the elves have smiles on their faces as they laugh at the dwarves, trying for Farrah’s affection. It is all fun and well-liked by Farrah, the dwarves, and the elves as they pass the time in a much more favorable way than in a battle with dragons. Ulegwahn sees Farrah dancing with the dwarves and extends his hand to Farrah, asking if he may have the next dance. This kind of event brings all the noise and festivity to a halt. The music played by the elven flutes has stopped, and all the dwarves get quiet as Farrah slowly accepts the hand of Ulegwahn. This is very unusual, and everyone here is a little uneasy that the elven king is asking a human female to dance with him. Everyone is uneasy except the king. Ulegwahn waves his hands at the elves to play music, and they do, and the two start to dance, while everyone watches.

Ulegwahn looks deep into Farrah’s eyes and holds his hand up high in front of his face, and Farrah holds his hand with hers and respectfully smiles back as they start to move in fluid movements. One of them bending at the knee and bowing to their partner, and then the other bending at one knee and bowing to their partner, then they move in a circle, smiling and dancing.

The dwarves look at one another with blank faces. The elves look at one another, confused, and Vegenrage looks at Logantrance, who does not know what to say. Logantrance looks at Oriapow, who has just arrived and immediately looks at the eastern sky, not at all concerned that Ulegwahn is dancing with Farrah.

“Oriapow, has something stolen your attention away from this most unusual sight?” Logantrance points to Ulegwahn and Farrah. Oriapow pays Logantrance no attention and starts to move in the direction he is looking. Vegenrage looks at the eastern sky as well and walks by Oriapow.

“I sense it too, Oriapow. Dragons, they are flying right at us.” This gets everyone’s attention.

“Dragons? Did someone say dragons?” Everyone stops what they are doing and look at the sky where Oriapow and Vegenrage are looking. Very far off and high in the sky, they can see the silhouettes of dragons flying toward them.

“Everyone, ready yourselves. Shastenbree, sound your horn.” Shastenbree sounds his horn that rings through the forest, and other horns are heard ringing out as well. Oriapow goes to Ulegwahn and grabs him by the arm, teleporting the two of them back to the Great Erken. This is where the king and the master magic user should be during any kind of attack.

The dragons are led by Blethstole. He has Pryenthious to his back left and Gairdennow to his back right, and Dribrillianth is bringing up the rear behind Blethstole. Blethstole has to fly by using magic, and the one wing he still has is tucked tight to his body. All the other dragons fly with their wings, flapping easily and gracefully through the air. They come up to the edge of the Erkensharie Forest and are attacked by the Terrahawks. Blethstole yells to his dragon brothers, “You know what to do!” Dribrillianth flies up and takes the position Blethstole was in, and Blethstole moves back to the rear.

The Terrahawks are fast and very maneuverable in the air, but the dragons are bigger, stronger, and have deadly breath attacks that they use with devastating consequences to the Terrahawks. Dribrillianth has never used his true breath attack yet, and no one knows what it is. He always uses some form of attack that includes the breathing of diamond daggers because there is almost no defense against this, and it kills most all victims hit by this attack. There is nothing the Terrahawks can do against this attack. They can maneuver and avoid the attack, but those hit by the attack are shredded and fall from the sky. Gairdennow is spitting Gustament arrows that hit the Terrahawks, engulfing them and suffocating them. Pryenthious is not using his Halgespace; instead, he is using fire to keep the Terrahawks at bay, or he is fighting them in the air. Some of the Terrahawks are fast and maneuverable enough to land on the dragons and dig deep into them with their talons and peck gouging wounds with their beaks, but the dragons simply bite them off and eat them. The dragons actually let some of the giant hawks land on them on purpose just so they can eat them. The Terrahawks are no match for the dragons, and the dragons pay them little attention. They are on a very simple mission—a mission they are about to complete.

All the dwarves, elves, Vegenrage, and Farrah have taken to the trees. Ulegwahn and Oriapow have returned to protect the Great Erken. The dragons are flying right for the courtyard just inside the great gate that has a lot of open space from which they can drop their cargo, and it will be easily seen. The dragons fly overhead just above the trees. They fly fast so no attack can be thrown at them, and last to fly overhead is Blethstole. He has a very large magical globe tethered by two magical ropes flying behind him. Blethstole cannot see any of the elves, but he knows they are there, and he speaks loud enough for them to hear him. “I have something for you, elves. Something you may remember. I have been holding on to this for a long time, and it is just for you. Vemenomous means to destroy the dragons and the races of man. This person, a long time ago, had the only power that could harness the Violet Violator, and maybe now he is the only power that can save you from Vemenomous.” Blethstole slingshots the globe to the ground in the courtyard as he flies overhead and by. “Return the Staff of Barrier Breath to its rightful master, Persen, and watch as he destroys this new dragon.”

The globe flies right into the ground and breaks like a water-filled balloon. The globe is black, and it is not filled with water. It is filled with a slime, and in the slime is a man. He seems to survive the impact with the earth and starts to move around and sits up completely covered in this thick clear slime. All those in the courtyard watch as the dragons fly back the way they came. The Terrahawks continue their attack until the dragons have gone, and they lose many lives. Many of the Terrahawks fell to the ground, burned to death, shredded to pieces, and/or suffocating.

All those in the courtyard walk up to this human man that has been dropped by the dragons from the sky. Vegenrage motions for everyone to keep their distance from this man. “Stay back. Do not touch him or the slime he is covered in. There is strong magic here, and I cannot penetrate the magical slime covering this man.”

“I am Persen. How did I get here? Where am I? Is this Erkensharie?” This man claiming to be Persen starts to stand and wipe away the clear slime that he has been covered in.

“Persen, the creator of the Staff of Barrier Breath?” Vegenrage asks.

“Vegenrage, be careful. This may be dragon magic of the worst kind.”

“I know, Glimtron. Has anyone here ever met Persen?” Everyone looks around, shrugging their shoulders.

“None of us have, but Oriapow surely would know Persen if he saw him. Shastenbree, you wait here with the others. Logantrance, can you teleport you and I to the Great Erken, and we can come back with Oriapow?”

“I sure can, Elkwar. Are you ready?”

“Yes, let us go. We will be right back. Keep an eye on him.”

“We will, Elkwar.”

Elkwar and Logantrance teleport away, and the others watch as Persen wipes the slime from himself. He is wearing black leather pants and has a vestlike shirt on, exposing his arms and the top of his chest. Vegenrage quickly notices he has a Bag of Holding and remembers this as he has read the story of Persen and how Vergraughtu gifted him a Bag of Holding and all of his treasure. All the elves and dwarves are getting closer and closer to Persen, and again, Vegenrage warns them to keep their distance because the slime on this man is a concealing magic, keeping his presence undetectable. Vegenrage is trying to detect the identity of this man. He is just trying to see if in fact he is human, but he cannot break through the concealing magic yet. “Farrah, do you have any visions of the creator of the Staff of Barrier Breath? Have you ever seen this man before?”

“No, I have never seen him in any of my visions. That does not mean that he is not who he says he is.”

“Persen, I have read that you encapsulated Vergraughtu in the Staff of Barrier Breath and then took all the treasure he had and put it in your Bag of Holding, the same Bag of Holding that was gifted to you by Vergraughtu. After that, you had returned to Hiltor, and then you disappeared.” Persen stands quietly, wiping away the slime, not saying anything.

Behaggen comes to life. “Vegenrage, something is not right here. I should be able to detect which of my offspring this is. There is no magic so strong that it can block my sensing my offspring when I am this close to him. The only possible reasoning for this is if my offspring is purposefully denying to communicate with me. This is possible.”

“Do you know which offspring was held by Vergraughtu?”

“Unfortunately, I do not. I know I cannot detect my offspring here, and this is very odd.”

“Persen, you vanished a thousand years ago, along with the kingdom of Hiltor. Do you remember what happened there?” Persen looks at everyone, and no matter how hard he tries, he cannot get the slime to leave him. Every time he wipes some off, it just rolls upward from the ground to keep a small layer, covering his body. Vegenrage does all he can to try and figure out what kind of magical slime this is, but he is baffled. “Behaggen, what kind of magical slime is this? I cannot detect its source. I cannot even tell if it is the magic of dragon.”