Vegenrage: Dragon Reclaim (30 page)

“Okay, Blethstole, revive Persen so he can absorb me back into the staff.”

“I have to say, Vergraughtu, I do not mind you being gone, but I do not understand your desire to be a part of this staff. I mean, why do you want to be the life force of a magical item?”

“Because this magical item will hold me forever in it. I can never be killed, and someday I will escape from the staff, and when I do, I will be more powerful than when I went in it.”

“Okay. So when I revive Persen, what makes you think he will put you back in the staff?”

“He will trust me. I have the staff right here, and do not kill Persen. Keep him alive. We may very well need him in the future.”

“I won’t kill him. I agree we may need him in the future. Honestly, I am curious to see what happens to you, Vergraughtu. Should you return a thousand years from now, do not be pleased to see me because I may still have to kill you.”

“Or I you, Blethstole. Or I you. We will have to wait and see what happens.”

“You want Persen? Here he is.” Blethstole grabs the invisible air with his right paw like he is grabbing a rope and pulls it toward Vergraughtu, and the round ball holding Persen pulls free from the wall of Blethstole’s lair. The round ball looks like it is full of water. Persen seems to be suspended in it. It is very dark in the sphere, but you can see Persen inside. Blethstole walks up behind the sphere and asks Vergraughtu, “Are you ready? I still have him under my charm, so he will do whatever I ask. There is no doubt he will put you back in the staff if that is what you want.”

Vergraughtu lays the Staff of Barrier Breath at the feet of Persen. “Perfect. I don’t think you will have to charm him. Wait for him to put me back in the Staff and then recapture him in the sphere. Then take the staff and put it in the hands of an unsuspecting race of man. This way, you can track me and keep track on the race of man whom has the staff that I power. I will conceal my presence, and no one will know how powerful the staff is except for you and Persen. The writings of Hornspire say the staff will come into play when need be in the future, so let’s have faith that all will work out. Just remember, any human using the staff will grow very powerful from it and be immune to dragon attacks of all sorts.”

Blethstole draws one long claw from his index finger on his right front paw and punctures the sphere. The sphere pops, and all the magical water inside falls and washes away, dropping Persen to the ground. Persen starts to gasp for air, rising to his hands and knees, and sees the Staff of Barrier Breath laying in front of him on the ground. He picks the staff and rises to his knees, seeing that Vergraughtu is in front of him, bowing.

“Vergraughtu, how did you get there? Where am I? What is going on? How did you get out of the staff?”

“Master, it was Blethstole. He charmed you. He made you release me, and he thought he was powerful enough to destroy me, but he was wrong. He tried to kill me. He even brought me and you to his lair where he had the advantage, but I was just strong enough to thwart him. You must put me back in the staff so you can harness my power. He will return, and when he does, you will be able to consume his breath attack with the staff. Not only that, but you will be immune to his charm and physical attacks as well. Hurry. You must put me back in the staff so I can power it, and you can summon its magic through my power.” Persen looks up as he hears a great roar from Blethstole.

“Persen, hurry. He is coming back. Hurry. Put me back in the staff. Just say the same words you said when you read the book, and it will put me back in the staff. Do you remember the words you read to put me in the staff?”

“Of course, I do,” and he repeats the words he read, and Vergraughtu is put back in the staff as he was before.” Blethstole kicks Persen’s arm from behind him, and the staff flies out of his hand. Persen then makes the mistake of looking behind him, seeing Blethstole, and again, he is put in a magical sleep in a sphere, and the sphere is hidden in the wall of Blethstole’s lair. Again, Blethstole cannot get near the staff. He looks at it like it is hurting his eyes to look at it. “I know what to do with this.” Blethstole flies from his lair and uses a magical rope to drag the staff behind him. He flies out and over Pinegrow Forest. Blethstole is one of very few that know of the existence of Xanorax. Xanorax is just now starting to gain power as a warlock on the planet of Kronton. Blethstole drops the staff near the home of Xanorax, and it drops and sticks in the ground just outside of Xanorax’s house. Blethstole flies back to his lair, leaving the staff stuck in the ground.

Xanorax notices this staff many days later, and he does realize it is a magical staff, but Vergraughtu has really camouflaged the staff and its true power very well. Xanorax has just enough interest in the staff to keep it and not throw it away. It remains in his home untouched for the most part until the fateful day that Xanorax runs into Vegenrage a thousand years from now.

The second Dragon Feast is underway. Blethstole has just sent Hornspire into a stone prison and Vergraughtu to a prison inside a staff, and Rippencore has been slain by the elves and humans. Blethstole feels the loss of Rippencore and was not expecting this. He is very tempted to go to Fargloin to see which dragon has killed off Rippencore. Blethstole believes that another dragon saw how badly wounded Rippencore was and finished him off. Blethstole figures it is Pryenthious, Gannream, or Gisewear that finished off Rippencore. Actually, this does not bother Blethstole all that much because now he is the front-running dragon to take Gwithen when she calls for a mate, and that is mostly what Blethstole is thinking about. In fact, he can’t wait. He decides to make a surprise visit on the white mare. Blethstole enters the lair of Gwithen, and she is not bothered by his arrival at all. Gwithen was attracted to the mind and intellectuality of Hornspire, and her offspring with Hornspire have just recently gone off to start their lives on their own. Gwithen is ready to mate again because she has passed unfertilized eggs with Vergraughtu, but she has not made the call yet, and it is like Blethstole has read her mind. Gwithen is truly attracted to Blethstole in a physical sense. Blethstole is everything she is not. He is dark, she is light. He is mean, she is thoughtful. He is brutal, she is caring. He is abrasive, she is sensitive. He is forceful, she is cautious. He is demanding, he is confident, and she cannot help her overwhelming physical attraction for Blethstole. This is not a conversational meeting. This is a mating, and they waste no time. They mate, and Blethstole plants the seed that Gwithen’s three eggs need in order to start the new generation of dragon.

The dragons have a very interesting way of carrying eggs and hatching young. The female dragon carries one to six eggs within her, and once she mates, the male seed is introduced to the eggs through a vast network of veins that enter directly into the eggs within the female’s body. Once this has happened, and the eggs are now fertile, a week later, the female dragon lays the eggs, and they are incubated within her nest until they hatch roughly a year later. There are no eggs anywhere in the Maglical System that take as long to grow into hatching young as dragons.

Blethstole mates with Gwithen and leaves confident that he now is the dominant dragon and sets out to prove his dominance with any dragon that wishes to tangle with him. He is cocky and confident, and from now until the appearance of Vlianth, there is no challenge to him that survives. He makes a bloody mess out of two dragons, and quickly, all dragons know there is a new dominant dragon ruling the Maglical System. Blethstole spreads the story of Vergraughtu voluntarily submitting to become the Staff of Barrier Breath, and this becomes a story, and by the time of the third Dragon Feast, it is now a legend. As Blethstole is asserting his dominant role on all three planets of the Maglical System, he notices while on Strabalster that there is a massive power surge in the Shandeltowen Mountains. This is a few weeks after the second Dragon Feast, and the races of man have seemingly been devastated by the dragons. He knows this is the lair of Gwithen, and he cannot help but investigate this strange powerful surge he feels. He travels through a Dimension Door and appears right at the entrance to Gwithen’s unbelievably massive lair, and he enters. He can see from very far away that there is a man standing over Gwithen, and he cannot believe his eyes. He flies as fast as he can to his love, and the man vanishes just before he gets there. The nose of Blethstole catches the scent of the man, and he will never forget this scent. There is nothing he can do magically or physically to wake Gwithen, and he spends many hours with her. He notices she has hatched three eggs, and they are not near her nest of treasure but down on the other side of some water, well hidden in some trees and heavy vegetation. He know his eggs are alive, and there is a magical bond between dragon mother and dragon egg. Gwithen has been magically put to sleep. She is not dead, but she is magically suspended, and so are her eggs. They will not grow or hatch until Gwithen regains her conscience. The eggs will not die, but like Gwithen, they are magically suspended in time. This is the saddest Blethstole has ever been. He cannot magically undo what has been done. He wants his eggs to hatch, he wants dragons alive that he has sired, and he truly loves Gwithen, which most all male dragons do. He sets out to find this mystery man, and he is going to give this man more than he can handle. He does not know where to start, but he is quite sure this man is not from Kronton because he would have felt the presence of him before. Blethstole decides to start his search on Strabalster and creates a Dimension Door to fly through, and he ends up back in his lair. He does this over and over until his magic, his mind, his strength, and his will have been worn out. He lies on his bed of gold, and like Gwithen, he sleeps, knowing that someday his vengeance will be administered.

CHAPTER 24
The Staff of Barrier Breath Finds Its Master

“
Logantrance, why did Oriapow do that? He had to know something was not right. I have no idea where they have gone to. I cannot sense a thing. That magical slime is something that I have not sensed before. What about you?”

“I am sorry, Vegenrage. I have no idea what it was either.”

“It was the Slime of Time. It starts as pure water and, over time, turns to a clear thick gel like slime. It covers its victim and keeps them alive forever. Once a victim is covered, and the water turns to slime, the slime cannot be removed by the victim. The only way to remove the slime is to drop the victim in the Decadic Marshlands. The acid here eats away the slime and restores the victim to their state prior to being stuck in time by the slime. I bet Oriapow has taken him to the Decadic Marshlands.”

“But that is next to Mirrimya Mountain, the home of Blethstole. How do you know this, Blythgrin?”

“The Sapphirewell has revealed many secrets to us, and this is one of them. Blethstole has captured dwarves and placed them in this slime. He did this in retaliation to us, causing him great injury when he used to enter the dwarven mines over a millennium ago. He captured some dwarves and returned them years later when the slime had formed, and he thought we would not figure out how to release our kin. Well, thanks to the Sapphirewell, we figured it out. We call it the Slime of Time. I have talked about this unique spell with the Erkensharie magical order, so I am sure Oriapow is aware of this. I bet he will return soon. Many dwarves were driven mad because the Slime of Time drives the victim mad unless the slime is removed quickly. In fact, we lost all dwarves caught in this slime to madness. We did not figure out how to save them until hundreds of years later when we gained the Sapphirewell.”

Vegenrage looks surprised raising his hands. “I can’t believe he would just disappear like that and not tell anyone what he is doing.”

Blythgrin responds. “Well, Oriapow is adventurous like that. He will be back soon.”

“Well, Blythgrin, Glimtron, while you and the elves wait here for Oriapow to return, I think now would be a good time for Farrah, Vegenrage, and myself to go check something out in Richterblen. We will be back shortly okay.”

“Oh, now you are leaving us as well?”

“You will be fine, Glimtron. We will not be long.”

“Oh sure, take your time.”

“Farrah, Vegenrage, come. We should go to Richterblen now.”

“We are right behind you, Logantrance. Let’s go.”

Sure enough, Oriapow and Persen appear many miles west of Mirrimya Mountain. Oriapow lowers the two of them down, just above a pool of acid, and he floats over to the ground off to the side of the pool. Persen is still hovering over the pool of acid, and the slime is dripping off him and being eaten by the acid. Oriapow lowers Persen into the acid the slime raises him back in the air. The acid covering his body begins to pull away from him about a foot, and the acid begins to eat the slime away. Oriapow lowers him into the acid pool two more times so that all the slime is eaten away, and when it is all gone, Persen begins to get his senses back.

“Oriapow, is that you? Where are we? The last thing I remember is the black dragon. I was fighting the black dragon.”

Oriapow floats Persen to the ground where he is standing and begins to let Persen know what is going on. “Persen, Blethstole has charmed you, and then he put you in the Slime of Time. You have been magically suspended for a thousand years. It is now the third Dragon Feast. I did not know what happened to you, but now I know. I had to bring you here to remove the slime. We can go back to Erkensharie now. There are many waiting for us there.”

“Oriapow, how long was I magically suspended for?”

“A thousand years. Persen, Hiltor did not survive the last Dragon Feast, neither did Altrar. The human races of man have been eliminated on Fargloin by the dragons.”

“My staff. Where is my staff?”

“The Staff of Barrier Breath turned back into Vergraughtu, and then he entered Vegenrage and became a new form of dragon. This new form of dragon hunts all the races of man, along with the dragons. He is called Vemenomous, and he is looking to bring in the rein of a new dragon species to rule the Maglical System.”

“I am all that is left of my people? That black dragon put me on magical ice for a thousand years? Well, I say we go give this dragon and all of them a big surprise. They should have killed me when they had the chance.”

“Persen, we will go back to Erkensharie now. Believe me, they kept you alive for a reason. I bet you and possibly Vegenrage are the only two that can deal with this new form of dragon. He is very powerful.”

“Oriapow, you were my only friend after my family was killed. You and I, we took out the Violet Violator, and we will do it again no matter what he calls himself. I have lost the Staff of Barrier Breath. Do you know where it is? I need it, but once I have it, I will fear no dragon, even this black dragon. I will take him on again, and this time, the outcome will be different because the staff makes me immune to all the dragon attacks, and he is still just a dragon. Let’s get back to Erkensharie. Is King Ellith still ruling in there?”

“No, he is not. Actually, King Estine took over after King Ellith, and he was killed by the magic user Cloakenstrike not too long ago. Ulegwahn is now our king.”

“Oh, I remember Ulegwahn. What of Tenzon?”

“He was killed by Cloakenstrike as was Shandorn.”

“Shandorn was killed? I see we have a lot of catching up to do.”

“Yes, we do, my friend. Let’s go home.” Oriapow leads them through a Dimension Door.

Logantrance walks out from a Dimension Door followed by Vegenrage and Farrah. They are near the entrance to his home. The lush forest has fully regrown itself from when Blethstole was here last and swept clear all the forest with his breath attack and fire spells. The torch is on the wall and burning like it always was.

“I have to say, Logantrance, it is a little creepy being here. The last time we were here, Blethstole had implanted that Demon Seed in you, and you were in bad shape.”

“Yeah, Logantrance, you are sure the dragons have not left any traps here, right?”

“Don’t worry, my dear Farrah. I was never worried about the dragons leaving any traps here. I was a little worried that they may find some of my secrets, but it has been long enough now, and the dragons have long since gone.”

“You know what, Logantrance, I think I am starting to understand the time conundrum here in the Maglical System. People age just like people do where I am from, but somehow the magic of this universe works on the land in a time-sensitive way. I mean, it is like the land ages. Oh, I would say maybe one hundred to one. For every one hundred years the land ages, people age only one year. It is strange, but I noticed it when Farrah and I were in Vollenbeln last. My home realm had aged a crazy long time. So long that trees had grown, and even the climate had changed to a cold wintery one. Not only that, but I could also feel that the land and magic had grown strong with me and I with it. It was a very powerful feeling.”

“Well, it is like I said to you a long time ago, Vegenrage. You will understand in time. As far as magic goes, there has been a lot of lost life among magic users, including dragons and the races of man. This loss of magic frees up a lot of magical energy that remains in the Maglical System, and as a result, it is drawn to other magic-using beings like all of us here. Our magic has grown in strength, but so has the magical power of others.”

“Oh yeah, you said you had worked on the bottle for six thousand years. That can’t be right, Logantrance?”

“Did I say that? I meant to say six hundred years.”

“That sounds more like it. So what are we looking for here? You set traps for the dragons, didn’t you?”

“Well, if the dragons were bold enough to enter my home, and if they were wise enough to find some of my secret rooms, then yes, traps have been set for them. Come along. Follow me.” Logantrance leads the way through his tunnels that shift and change as he waves his hands back and forth. Vegenrage remembers the room with the broken wand in it, and of course, all the spiders are in the room until Logantrance casts his light, and they all head to hiding in the walls and ceiling. Vegenrage walks right up to the wand he picked before and picks it. “Put that down, Vegenrage. Don’t touch that.” Logantrance goes on to hold out his hand, and a very large ugly spider crawls out from the wall and onto his hand. Logantrance seems to communicate with the spider for a while, and then the spider heads back into its hole. “Good, good.” Logantrance says, walking out of the room followed by Farrah and Vegenrage.

“Where are we going now, Logantrance?”

“Come. We are going to my library. The dragons have not discovered any of my secrets, but they think they have taken my books, but what they got were all fakes. Come, Vegenrage. I have some questions for you.” Logantrance takes Farrah and Vegenrage to the main room where they listened to Logantrance tell his stories after they had saved him from the Demon Seed. His books are still all intact, and his fireplace is burning a nice warm fire, and it is very cozy.

“Logantrance, the dragons did not get any of your books. I knew they wouldn’t.”

“The dragons did not get any of your books either, did they, Vegenrage?”

“No, they did not. What they got was magically replicated books that were identical to the books they replicated, but the words were written magically, so if the books were to be altered in any way, or if the book or books were to be opened, the writings would disappear.”

“I knew it. I knew I could feel your magic. Oriapow leads us to the lair of Vemenomous, and there, we found the
Wogenkeld
that Vemenomous had made at your home. We tried to read the book back in Erkensharie, and it disintegrated. I knew I could feel the magic of man and not dragon. There is something that bothers me though. This means that Vemenomous never even opened the book. I find this odd. Why did he not seek its knowledge?”

“I don’t know, Logantrance, but I am sure Vemenomous has thought about the events happening now for hundreds of years, and we better be ready for anything.”

“Yes, this is why I wanted to bring you two here. Vemenomous is hunting and killing dragons. This makes him stronger and more magically powerful. I can tell that he has killed at least two dragons already.”

“You know what, Logantrance, I can see him when he kills the dragons. Not only that, but he has also come to me in visions, telling me I am to be his queen. He tells me I will be his queen and mother the new generation of dragons. How I could mother those beasts, I have no idea, but he has said this to me in visions. I have not seen any visions recently, and I hope I have become strong enough to block them from now on because they really scare me.”

“I brought you two here now on purpose. Oriapow has a book that he and Cloakenstrike stole from the dragons long ago, and there is a short passage in the book talking about the return of Persen. It said the return of Persen begins the raid of Vemenomous. Vemenomous captures Persen and turns the Staff of Barrier Breath into the Staff of Magic Engulf.”

“The staff is Vemenomous, right, Logantrance? I mean, didn’t the staff turn into that small version of Vergraughtu that entered Vegenrage? Then it was gone, right?”

“I am not sure, Farrah. We all saw the miniature Vergraughtu, and we saw him enter Vegenrage and rise Vemenomous, but none of us saw what happened to the staff. The staff must still exist, and it must be the key we need to destroy Vemenomous.”

“Well, we have to get the staff back into the hands of Persen. There can be no better person to handle the staff than its creator.”

“I know, Vegenrage, but this is why I brought you two here. The passage says Persen is captured by Vemenomous, and the female is captured. This female must be you, Farrah. Once the female is captured, then Vlianth will follow and be destroyed and …”

“Let me guess, Logantrance. Vlianth will be consumed by me. I have seen this vision with Vemenomous right in front of me, explaining that this will happen. Vegenrage, what are we going to do?”

“I have said it before, and I will say it again. We create our own future. These writings are surprisingly accurate but do not fear them. Do not believe that we cannot change what has been written. Farrah and I already proved this a few days ago. I killed no dragons on the dawn of the Dragon Feast as predicted. I did not kill Vemenomous as predicted, and none of us were killed as predicted.”

“This is true, Vegenrage, but I still think we should avoid this situation that I know is about to happen. At least I think it is about to happen.” Right then, Farrah gasps for air like she has been punched in the lower back. She falls to her knees, arching backward, and her head falls back. Vegenrage is right there to catch her before she falls completely to the ground. “Farrah, what is it? What is wrong?”

“It is Vemenomous. He knows I am here. He has always been with me. He knows where I am. He is so big, so strong. He has the Staff of Barrier Breath. He hit me in the back with it, and now I can’t move. Vegenrage, I am scared.”

“Farrah, don’t be scared. I am right here. Fight him. You can fight him. Put him out of your mind.”

“I can’t, Vegenrage. He is too strong. He is calling for me. He hit me in the back with the staff, and he is using the staff to call me, and I cannot … I can’t … Vegenrage, I’m scared … Vegenrage, what is he doing to me? Vegenrage.” Farrah is getting hysterical, looking blindly around and reaching for Vegenrage with her hands. Vegenrage has her tight in his grip, but she is becoming uncontrollable.

“Logantrance, what is happening? Help me hold her. We cannot lose her. Vemenomous is trying to get her. Help me hold her.” Before Logantrance can get to them, both Farrah and Vegenrage disappear. They appear in the courtyard in Erkensharie at the exact moment that Oriapow and Persen appear. All the dwarves and elves look on, happily surprised to see everyone coming back, and sure enough, Logantrance shows up as well. The dwarves notice that Farrah is in some sort of pain and gather around her and Vegenrage.