Vegenrage: Dragon Reclaim (36 page)

Kevner and Grongain are squaring off for the first real fight for demon master of Kronton. All the souls gather around in these types of events and scream and yell, shouting all kinds of things, antagonizing the demons to fight. The souls want this because when a demon dies, the souls subservient have another chance to gain dominance over other souls, and the more demons that die, the less competition there is for the released souls. Kevner has taken the body form of the Hiraffoose with a human abdomen, chest, arms, and head. Grongain has taken the form of a lizard from head down to the hips where from hips down, it is human, but he does have a long thick tail. The two square off, circling each other on a large rock surrounded by lava flows, and all the souls and demons are here already, yelling and shouting for action. Grongain throws his long tongue at the neck of Kevner and circles it many times, constricting and suffocating him in an instant. Kevner has made a nice adaptation to the antlers, laying down the back of his body. They are moose-like antlers in shape with four stabbing protrusions on each side of each antler, but he has made the sides of his antlers razor sharp, something Grongain is not aware of. Kevner uses all his power to pull the tongue as he leans back and swings at it with his swordlike antlers, slicing the tongue in half. Grongain’s tongue snaps back into his mouth, and Kevner has drawn first blood. Kevner charges and swings his body 180 degrees, swinging his tail and impaling Grongain with many of the spines on his tail, and lifts him in the air while bringing his antlers up and, in a fluid motion, slices Grongain in half at the waist, and the part still stuck to his tail is sliced in half by the other antler. Kevner then pulls the remaining body part from the tail with his antlers and stomps the life out of Grongain, and he is gone forever. Cengorge falls to the rock with a loud thud, and Kevner turns to face his new opponent.

There are always new demons with new forms, thinking they are the newest and worst of all the demons. They are quick to show off their new form and eager to fight, ready to assert their dominance, but the older demons who have been around much longer and have shown patience usually have more souls to draw strength from, and this is a huge advantage. Kevner towers over Cengorge, who is the form of a man with bull legs from the hips down and a bull neck and head. Cengorge is solid. Very thick and strong. Kevner laughs as Cengorge charges him and ducks under the swinging antler meant to slice him in half. He continues his charge on all fours and gores Kevner underneath his neck, lifting the much larger demon off his two front legs. Kevner swings both antlers, stabbing Cengorge in the left and right side with his sharp-pointed antlers, causing serious wounds to Cengorge. Cengorge had expected this and swings down with his right fist, breaking the right antler, and follows with his left fist, breaking the other antler. He pulls the antlers out of his body as Kevner turns his wide body and swings his tail, impaling Cengorge and lifting him off the ground. Kevner tries again to slice with his now broken antlers, but Cengorge is swift enough to hit them with his fists, breaking the already-broken antlers, and now they are useless. Cengorge had hoped to be in this situation. He is now at Kevner’s back, still stuck to his tail, but he has weapons of his own that now come into play. He grabs his massively long and thick horns that are detachable and throws them into the back of Kevner. They stick and are attached with a magical tether to his head. He pulls himself to the back of Kevner and holds the tail under his body so it cannot escape his grip. He opens his right hand, and a blade in the shape of a half circle extends from the tip of his middle finger to the bottom of his palm. This is a razor-sharp blade, and he swipes at the tail many times, leaving it bleeding after each swipe until the tail has been severed. Cengorge then throws the tail off to the side. Now Kevner has lost all his weapons except the two antlers on his neck that are not going to do him any good. Cengorge grabs his horns and uses them like tacks, sticking them into the bucking and thrashing body of Kevner until he reaches the base of his neck. He then sits, squeezing his legs around Kevner’s back, and starts stabbing the neck with his sharp horns. He then exposes the blades on both hands and starts to slice the neck of Kevner over and over. Blood is squirting all over, and Kevner is jumping and bucking and running all over the rock, but Cengorge has a good hold and keeps his slicing attacks concentrated on Kevner’s neck. All the souls are shouting and yelling for more blood and pain, and Cengorge has cut through all the meat on Kevner’s neck. All that is left is his esophagus. There is no muscle left to support his neck and head, and it falls forward. Cengorge slaps his left hand under Kevner’s neck and raised it just enough to allow his right hand a swinging blow that severs his neck, and it falls to the ground, killing Kevner. Kevner begins to disintegrate until he is gone. Cengorge has many wounds to his body, and they begin to heal as he stands victorious. All the souls are making horrific faces and screaming, darting around, calling for another opponent. So far, the demons that are trying to make a name for themselves have been fighting. Now Ulore drops down onto the rock, and this is a well-known demon. Ulore is considered as one of the most powerful demons and has many of the souls watching serving him. Ulore is known as the pretty demon because he does not like to get his hands dirty. He has others do his dirty work. He is a towering ten-foot demon with smooth shiny red skin on a chiseled human frame. He is not overly muscular, but his muscles are well defined. He has projected the image of shiny black leather pants that fit him like a second skin. His face is beautiful, not a scratch on it. His red completion is flawless, and he has deep black eyes with bright white human teeth that he flaunts with a continuous smile. He has an outstanding feature that grows from the top of his head. From his forehead growing up a foot and all the way back to the downward curve of his head is a thick bone that grows up into two unbelievable horns. They grow up then outward to match the width of his shoulders and then grow forward to very sharp points. His horns twirl around, giving a swirling design to his horns, and they are very thick and strong.

Ulore walks over to Cengorge and pats him on the head. “Good job, Cengorge. Good job.” Cengorge is a servant of Ulore and is one of his Hench-Demons. “If there are any more challenges to my reign as demon master, make you presence now.” Ulore looks around at all the souls and demons that are watching the spectacle. No one comes forth. “Then it is done. I am the new demon master of Kronton. I call for the appearance of Zevoncour. Demon master king of all demons, we are ready. Come and accept my humble service.” The demons and souls of Kronton wait for the coming of the demon king.

CHAPTER 29
Zevoncour Brings Vlianth to Gwithen

Gannream flies into his lair through the very wide entrance with the stream flowing out of it. He has taken Pryenthious, Limbrone, Icerock, Moredown, Banoro, and Jarclause with him to Fargloin to his largest lair. This is the one closest to the Smildren Sea. Mezzmaglinggla and Razcour are sleeping on the high ledge overlooking the stream, trees, and foliage when Mezzmaglinggla is woken by her senses. She tells Razcour to hide behind the waterfall and conceal his presence with magic and to hurry. He obeys his mother, and she stands there, showing her teeth and growling. Gannream flies in followed by all the other dragons. He lands by her, and all the other dragons land on the nearly football-sized ledge.

“What is this, Gannream? Why have all of you come here? You mean to kill me and my young in my own lair?”

“No, Mezzmaglinggla, we have come to protect you. Razcour, come out from behind the waterfall. It is time for you to take part with all of your dragon brothers.”

Razcour is hesitant but slowly peeks and then walks out from behind the waterfall. Razcour is still younger than the youngest of the dragons that have ventured out for the first time with the dominant dragons, but he is going to be a wonderfully beautiful dragon. This is terrifying, but Razcour walks up and stands by his mother.

“What do you mean protect us?”

“Mezzmaglinggla, this is all that is left of the dragons, us seven here, and seven have gone to protect the offspring of Dribrillianth and his female. Blethstole has gone to see Gwithen, and that is all that is left of the dragons. The races of man have become unbelievably powerful. The dragon, Cormygle, your offspring, has been serving demons, and he has killed Gisewear. We have taken catastrophic losses, and we dragons must now band together and protect one another, or we will die out as a race. So we are here to protect each of us. We cannot afford to lose any more life.”

“
Cormygle has taken up with demons? That poor soul never let go of his hate.”

“Our home here is large enough for us to all wait until we hear from the other dragons and figure out what we are going to do. Our way of life is changing.”

Dribrillianth flies out above the Talbuterall Lowlands. He has Gairdennow, Megalla, Oninblind, Reegaallia, Wisekee, and Rungrunger with him. He takes the dragons all the way north where the Talbuterall Lowlands meets the Hiplimson Forest and the Briganyare Sea. There are great cliffs that grow up from the sea here where Quailrain has made her lair. Quailrain is here, resting with her young, Elbonic and Krigeblore, and she is woken by her senses going crazy. She definitely notices the presence of all the dragons closing in on her home. Her home is nowhere near as large and nice as Mezzmaglinggla’s lair is. Mezzmaglinggla is now the oldest and most accomplished female dragon in all the Maglical System except for Gwithen. Quailrain is very young, and this is her first young with Dribrillianth. She does not know it yet, but she has already lost Ayonde. Ayonde was the boldest, most adventurous, and most capable of all of her first three draglets. He was just coming into his own when he unfortunately ran into Vemenomous. Quailrain is a beautiful silver dragon with a blue belly, and the blue color rises to the bottom of her neck all the way under her jaw, and jagged peaks of blue color ascend to her body on both sides of her belly. She has big blue eyes, and Dribrillianth was smitten the second he saw her. Elbonic and Krigeblore stand behind their mother, peeking out from the sides of her at all the bigger dragons.

“Quailrain, we are not here to hurt you. We are here to protect you and our young. We have to adapt and change in order to survive as a race. The dragons have taken unspeakable losses as of late, and we here are all that survive. Blethstole has gone to be with Gwithen, and Gannream has taken six other dragons to protect Mezzmaglinggla and her young. That is all that is left of the dragons. We have many more enemies than just the races of man now, and we must band together and protect one another. Cormygle has been serving demons and fought with demons to kill dragons. Cormygle even has a human serving with him, and they are very powerful together. This new Vemenomous has been taking dragon lives as well. Where is Ayonde?”

“He ventured out many days ago and has never come back. I do not feel him anymore. I have no idea what has happened to him. Dribrillianth, what is happening to us?”

“We have to stick together. We will wait here, all of us, and I think our future will have to depend on the guidance of Gwithen, the oldest most successful of all the dragons. She and Blethstole will be in touch with us. For now, we wait to hear from our dragon brothers.”

Blethstole sits atop his mountain, contemplating the dire situation the dragons now face. He is a little hesitant but knows he has to go see Gwithen and follow her guidance. He wonders if he can agree with what he knows she will say and ask of the dragons. He knows Gwithen seeks to unite with the races of man, and he may have to go along with her on this idea for the sake of the dragons. While Blethstole sits and debates the notion of taking Gwithen’s advice and following her wisdom, the other dragons have gone to unite and protect what is left of the dragons.

Zevoncour has already set plans in motion. Zevoncour has made his way to the inner realms of Kronton and Fargloin and picked specific demons to carry out his plans to destroy the dragons and the most powerful magic users of the races of man. He has wasted no time, and his plans already began. Blethstole shrugs and heads for the lair of Gwithen when his senses draw his attention to the air. Cormygle is spotted flying toward the mountaintop, and Blethstole watches, grinning and growling, exposing his threatening teeth. Cormygle lands a good way from Blethstole on the mountaintop.

“Cormygle and his little human warlock. You two spineless traitors to your own kind. You give up your souls to turn in your own kind and take orders from the dead. I see you have given all, Xanorax, and you, Cormygle, you too. You take the power of the demons to transform yourself into something you are not. You were not meant to be a viable dragon. That is the way of things, so you have figured how to take the power of the dead and make yourself an enemy of the dragons to try and defeat them. You two are nothing more than tools for the demons. Now that the demons can walk the outer realms, what makes you think they will have any more need of you? They will use you to help defeat the greatest powers of the Maglical System, and you will die, and then your souls are owned. My soul is my own, and it will never be owned like you two slaves.”

“Well then, Uncle, prepare to be a soul.” Cormygle charges at Blethstole, and Blethstole lets loose his incredible Breath of Decadence, engulfing Cormygle completely. Cormygle takes three steps, and the black cloud of mist and force covers Cormygle and Xanorax until they have been lost in the attack. Blethstole breaths his breath attack for thirty seconds and after a minute and the black breath attack has blown away Xanorax and the saddle are gone. Cormygle continues charging Blethstole, and Blethstole charges, and the two collide with a thunderous thud as the two Goliaths slam into each other. They push on each other, gauging each other’s strength, and Cormygle is a little surprised to see Blethstole is just as strong as he is. They wrestle, pushing on each other, trying to get a good footing. The rock of the mountaintop is breaking and crumbling under their feet, and they keep slipping and falling, having to concentrate on maintaining their footing. Blethstole gives a huge push and pushes Cormygle back, and they face each other, breathing heavily through their nostrils.

“No demon will help you here, Cormygle. This is a fight between dragons.”

Cormygle leaps into the air and flies away. Blethstole squints in surprise, and his predatory instinct is to follow, and he does. Blethstole is at a great disadvantage in the air since he has to fly by the use of magic that drains his strength, but he is now in combat mode, and he has not lost to a dragon in all his life.

“Why do you run coward? Fight me.”

Blethstole throws a magical rope and catches Cormygle by the tail. He then falls on purpose. The weight of Blethstole falling pulls Cormygle toward the ground, and Blethstole whips his head toward the ground, throwing Cormygle straight at the ground. Cormygle is thrown with tremendous force at the ground, and he is smiling, extending his wings at the last moment to swoop along the ground, just missing making contact and gliding back into the air. Blethstole has darted from above right at Cormygle, trying to land on him and crash him into the ground, but Cormylge dodges at the last moment, and Blethstole misses him. Cormygle is smiling like he is playing with Blethstole, but this is no game.

“Fight me, you cowering traitor. Fight me.”

“You want to fight, come and meet me at the Carbonheight Hills. I will be waiting there for you.”

“Do not think I am stupid, Cormygle. We all know you have special powers there. Only by the powers granted you by demons were you able to slay Griyile and Gisewear.”

“Oh, but I am supposed to fight you on your mountain where you have all the power of your treasure melted as it is. No, I think I fight to win, and I am going to keep on winning.”

Blethstole floats down to the earth and lands on an open patch of land in between the Elbutan Forest and the Pinegrow Forest. “Then fight me here. Neither of us has an advantage here.”

Cormylge circles in the air. “I have added motivation for you. If you want to see the white mare again, then you will come to the Carbonheight Hills. That is where Gwithen will be waiting for you. Of course, she will not be there under her own accord but by force, and there, she will watch you die, and then she will die. If you do not come, then she will die alone.” Cormygle circles a few times in the air and flies through a Dimension Door. Blethstole cannot believe this. Nothing, not even demons, can capture the white mare. He grins and clinches his eyes, trying to figure out what Cormygle is up to. This cannot be. He takes to the air and flies through a Dimension Door.

Zevoncour has set a plan in motion. Cormygle was a diversion to keep Blethstole away from Gwithen’s lair. Zevoncour is going for the end of the dragons in the first move. To take out Gwithen would be the end of the dragons. She is the most powerful magically of the dragons and the most fertile with all of her offspring surviving. To take her out would mean all the newborn dragons would fall on Mezzmaglinggla and Quailrain. Gwithen symbolizes all that makes the dragons what they are and the loss of Gwithen would demoralize the surviving dragons to no end, and Zevoncour knows this.

Gwithen is resting by her draglets that are now moving around and playing. They are crawling on her front legs and biting at her neck. They are jumping at her face and playfully annoying her, but she does not mind. She pushes them back, and they come back for more. They are learning to flap their wings and jumping and running at her, growing their strength, and it is so amusing to watch as they stumble and cry with weak squeaky voices. Gwithen actually enjoys playing with her young at this stage of their lives. They cannot go far, and they are small enough to not really cause her annoying bites and scratches, which come a little later. She plays with her young when she tingles in a bad way. She raises her head, looking very concerned. She stands and scoops her young into her right wing. She moves back up the walk along the rock wall to the top where the walk ends in a dug-out portion of the mountain. She casts a magical barrier so her young cannot escape this safe place. She walks to the edge where she can overlook her enormous lair, and the ground starts to shake. The water starts to ripple, and then the shaking gets worse. The water starts to drain downward, and the earth rumbles. The trees start to sway and fall over, and the earth rises. Up from the earth rises a beast like Gwithen has never seen. Its head is round and solid ten feet wide with two huge eyes and a long thick tongue that licks its face and eyes. It has two nostrils that are slits between its eyes and mouth. It has a flap on either side of its head that rise, exposing two holes that the beast hears with. Its legs reach up from the earth and stomp loudly on the ground as it pulls itself up from the earth. Its body is a solid mass, and it is huge—forty feet long and twelve feet wide. It walks on all fours with elephant-like feet flat and solid. It is solid red with black arches lining its back. It does not look overly dangerous but nearly impossible to hurt. It walks toward the ledge Gwithen is on far below her and gives out a terrifying roar. Gwithen walks to the ledge, looking down, and gives an incredible roar of her own.

Vegenrage is kneeling over the still unconscious Farrah, concentrating. He looks up with a deep breath. “Oriapow, Logantrance, and the rest of you, please take Farrah to the Mystical Erkens. You must keep her safe there. There is something happening now, and I must go. Please, can you do this?”

“Yes, Vegenrage, we can do this.”

“Thank you, Oriapow.”

“Vegenrage, what is it? What must you go do?”

“It is Gwithen, Logantrance. We have met, and it was foretold that I would save her and her young. That time is now. You must all protect Farrah. You cannot let the dark forces take her away. I believe this will be the uniting of the dragons with the races of man against demons.”

“We will protect her. You protect yourself and come back.”

Vegenrage wastes no time. He vanishes through a Dimension Door.

Zevoncour rises from the earth where the beast rose, and he rises in the air and hovers with the
Wogenkeld
in his left hand. Gwithen lowers her head and shakes her back. All the scales on her snowy white back flutter up and down, and little white dots fly from under her scales high into the air. Zevoncour reads from the book, and the white dots explode from high above, shooting magical white arrows down on the demons, lots of them. Zevoncour extends his arms out as wide as he can, and black arrows shoot from his arms chest and back. They collide with the white arrows and negate each other. “Is that the best you can do, white dragon? Here is a little more for you to think about. Rise up from the depths, my servants. Rise from within the earth, my servants.” Zevoncour looks up, laughing, as the ledge she is standing on begins to shake and crumble around her. She takes to the wing, and the entire ledge as large as it is begins to crumble and fall. Three-winged demons as large as Gwithen explode from the rock and take to the air, surrounding Gwithen. The entire ledge falls to the ground, and three more demons rise from the rubble, all holding spears with two barbed very sharp points at the ends of them. Gwithen hovers in front of her draglets that are safe in the protective spell she has cast around them and holds them without falling.