Vegenrage: Dragon Reclaim (9 page)

Wisekee appears over the Zillwern nesting grounds that is just south of Erkensharie and is the northeasternmost point of Ilkergire. The Zillwerns are much smaller in size than the Crainatours but much more deadly. They are a magically altered creature made from the magic of Ubwickesdon to help protect him from the elves. The Zillwerns are a mix of Tronglebire and Crainatour. They are not large, only the size of an eagle, but they have strong large feathered wings and a long narrow beak that can stab and bite very hard. Their bodies are frog like with a thin skin that is always moist. Their hind legs are powerful, and they can leap through the air lead by their sharp beak. They spit a mixture of acids that burn on contact, and they can breathe fire as well that will ignite the acid they spit. The Zillwerns have larger brains than the Crainatours and are not capable of speech, but like the Crainatours, they flock and gather to the call of Wisekee. Wisekee gathers many hundreds of the Zillwerns and invites them to hunt the elves in the morning, and they accept the invitation.

Oninblind appears over the Tronglebire Ponds and lands with a huge splash in the muddy waters. Oninblind is a very playful and restless dragon. He is not bothered at all by dirtying his bright orange color with mud. The Tronglebire are a deadly and fearless foe. They are humanoid in shape with long frog legs that they walk on. They do walk bipedally. Their feet are long, narrow, and webbed that help them walk through the muddy waters, and their front arms and hands are still much like those of a frog. Their fingers are long and narrow with suction cups for fingertips. They are very adept with these hands and can grasp quite well with them. Their heads look just like frogs with huge mouths that will consume anything that gets in it. They can walk through the swamps and muddy waters without a problem, and they can climb trees as well without a problem. They are basically five-foot walking frogs that can breathe fire. They are fearless and will eat anything they get their hands on. This species was magically altered and made by Ubwickesdon as well, and they live just south of Erkensharie, west of the Zillwern nests. They have very large brains and are capable of speech.

Oninblind starts to call in a deep dragon howl and the Tronglebire come to his call. Oninblind addresses the Tronglebire and explains how he wants them to enter Erkensharie and set the woods a blaze. The Treestriders and Vinegrowers are their main target but a bountiful feast for the Tronglebire and if they pass to the heart of Erkensharie they are free to feast on elves without any repercussions from the dragons. The Tronglebire accept and will march in the morning.

Rungrunger appears over the Changenoir Vanuary and seeks the home of Interford. Interford spends most of his life in human form. A very strong seven-foot sturdy man. He has a home made out of the wood of Ilkergire. It sits on a large dry rise of land surrounded by the waters of the swamp. It is very easy to spot and Interford has little to fear. Of the lesser dragons Ubwickesdon may be the most powerful but Interford and the Changenoir beings that still live here and there in the Maglical System are very powerful as well and magical. Interford and Ubwickesdon have an agreement they rule the Ilkergire but Ubwickesdon has the final word on issues and this really isn’t a problem because they for the most part stay clear of each other and both have no ties with the elves and mutually both rely on the creatures of the Ilkergire and the combined strength of each other should the elves attack in Ilkergire. These two have spent the past millennium building the minions of the Ilkergire for protection from the elves. Long ago the elves had tried to expand the Erkensharie south but the efforts of Interford and Ubwickesdon held them off and the elven raids became less and less and now there seems to be a natural barrier between Erkensharie and Ilkergire. That barrier is about to be breached for the first time with the minions moving northward. Rungrunger lands in front of Interford’s home and calls for him in the common language of Shaspar, but there is no response. He calls for him again to no response. Rungrunger ruffles his scales and sends out a magical wave that expands from his body. “Interford, I am Rungrunger, and I command you to appear.”

Interford is still in the Long Forest, spreading the Dark Bush, and he gets the magical message being sent to him. He is riding on the back of a Meglastern, and he easily can teleport them to his home, which he does. He appears in front of his home, and the Meglastern grunts and bobs its head at the sight of Rungrunger as it faces the much larger dragon. Interford steadies his steed, holding his long staff, and bows his head slightly. “So the dragons show themselves. I knew it would not be long. I am surprised to see you here in Ilkergire, unless you mean to feed?”

“No, I am not here to feed. I am here to join the minions of Ilkergire against the elves and dwarves. The dragons descend on Erkensharie in the morning, and the magic-using races of man are to be erased. We invite you and all the lesser dragons to feast with us and ensure the elimination of the magic-using races of man. You are to gather and march the bog wolves on Erkensharie. You are free to hunt and feed as you please, free of dragon retaliation.”

“I have a request if my master will allow.”

“What is your request, Interford?”

“There is a magic user—a human magic user. He goes by the name of Vegenrage. He killed my brother. I want him for myself.”

“I would say no, but if he is there, and I do not believe he is, you can make any move on him you want to. We dragons know of this Vegenrage, and he is of great interest to us. We seek him as well. We seek him dead, and if you accomplish this well, then you may find great grace with the dominant dragons. Either way, I do not care. I just intend to feed on elves and dwarves and return them to their rightful place at the bottom of the food chain.”

“The bog wolves shall be in Erkensharie in the morning, my master.”

Gisewear appears over the Dry Flats of Hilternor and is heading north to the Carbonheight Hills. Blethstole has tasked him with the retrieval of Cormygle. Cormygle is on par with the most powerful of the lesser dragons and then some, but Cormygle is much different in that he has not always been so quick to help the dragons, and he does not fear them. In fact, a little over a millennium ago, he started to openly ignore the dragons and moved into the Carson Hills and began to use powerful magic to turn the land to black carbon. It took over one hundred years, but the hills were completely transformed into carbon. This is a dead land that moves and transforms through the use of Cormygle’s magic. Cormygle is actually a dragon that was physically deformed at birth. He was born with severely underdeveloped wings that were little more than stumps sprouting from his back. His hips are slanted upward so he walks bipedally but his back is hunched forward and he uses his front arms which are long and slender to help support his weight. The only reason Cormygle has survived and made it to adulthood is because he is exceptionally smart and very good with magic. As a young dragon, Cormygle was tormented by his siblings and beaten but he survived and through his cunning and smart mind he killed his two brothers and his mother Mezzmaglinggla knew what Cormygle had done but with no more offspring to care for she raised Cormygle with all her care. Cormygle was an outcast and virtually every encounter he had with dragons was a fight for his life. With the exception of Mezzmaglinggla there was no dragon that accepted him so he went to the Carson Hills and transformed them into the Carbonheight Hills. Cormygle’s father Griyile went there to end this abomination and was never heard from again. The dragons don’t know this but Cormygle has been in the service of Zenondour the underworld demon king of Fargloin. Cormygle has been growing in magical strength and has the ability to summon demons to Fargloin. Cormygle takes orders only from Zenondour and is as powerful magically as any dragon but the dragons do not know this yet. Cormygle has been patiently waiting to unleash his powers and his wait is coming to an end in the form of Gisewear. Gisewear was alive when Griyile was killed. Dragons always know when a dragon is killed. There is a magical drain like a gravity that pulls down their body and it is unmistakable to dragons. They may not know which dragon was killed but they know a dragon has died. This makes the killing of Hornspire very unusual since none of the dragons felt his passing. The same goes for Ayonde. Being that this is the home planet of Gisewear and he had run-ins himself with Griyile he knew when Griyile had passed and suspected Cormygle had something to do with it. He also watched as the Carson Hills changed to carbon becoming the Carbonheight Hills. Gisewear always avoided this place but now he goes there to challenge his own curiosity and fear. He casts protective magic on himself because the carbon in these hills can be magically thrown by Cormylge, and this material can pierce diamond. Cormygle uses telepathy to warn those that approach the hills and gives great detail to the power of his magic, and the rumors and stories of his power have passed from dragon to dragon and even into the races of man. No one other than Griyile has ever tested these tales of strength and power, but Gisewear is getting close, and he is waiting for the telepathic communication that has not come, and he is just about there. Gisewear has never felt fear, he has never been spooked for any length of time, and he has never felt that he was not at least as strong as anyone or any dragon around him once he became an adult, and that was a long time ago. He lands on a soft black sandy hill and looks around, feeling the chill that must come over a man when facing a dragon. As far as he can see, there is nothing but high hills of black sand. “So this must be what a race of man feels when facing me.” It is quiet here, only the sound of the wind brushing over the soft black carbon sand.

“Cormygle, I am Gisewear, and the dragons set out on our third Dragon Feast tomorrow morning. We invite you to join in and eliminate the magic-using races of man. It is time for you to take your place with us and restore our dominance over the entire Maglical System.” There is quiet, but Gisewear can feel the magical presence of Cormygle, and it is strong. The hill ahead and rising higher than the one Gisewear is resting on begins to shake, and the sand starts to roll downward, and the form of Cormygle grows from the hill. He grows unbelievably large, his head thirty feet high and his body from the hips up for another two hundred feet, and he leans toward Gisewear who is completely dwarfed by this carbon sand imitation of Cormygle, and for the first time ever, Gisewear is completely intimidated.

“You come to ask me to serve the dragons. The dragons who beat me, the dragons who taunt my every move, the dragons who outcast me.”

“No, I ask you to take your place with the dragons. You got your revenge on the dragons. We all know you killed your brothers and father. Why not take you place as the dominant dragon? Rule your domain as you see fit and have all the dragons respect and fear the leading force that you have become and bear children to rule our species in the future.”

“I do rule my domain as I see fit, and there is no place for dragons in it.” Cormylge starts to laugh. He leans away from Gisewear, stretching his very long wings outward. Gisewear’s eyes flutter back and forth, watching Cormygle’s every move.

“Are you scared, dragon? Because you are about to die.” Like someone on their knees with their arms in the air, leaning forward and placing their hands on the ground, Cormygly does this as Gisewear takes to the wing, and as he is lifting into the air, the two huge wings much larger than Gisewear come down from the sky, cupping him and slamming him into the sandy earth. Dragons are immune to all dragon breath attacks but not their magic, and Gisewear magically casts Shards of Glasand and shreds the wings that have slammed him to the ground.

“You make war with the dragons, Cormygle, then we shall be your beginning and your end.”

Gisewear stands and swings his right wing at Cormygle, and sixteen red hot pointed darts fly into Cormygle, melting huge clumps of carbon, leaving huge dugouts from the attack in Cormygle’s form. He follows with the same attack from his left wing, relieving Cormygle of hundreds of pounds of carbon. Cormygle speaks a spell, “Hegin oninber orouleseus hiss leessmein ussppss.” Carbon from the hills rise up the body of Cormygle to replace the carbon melted from his body. Carbon does not burn, but when infused with magic, it can be melted, and Gisewear is exploiting this phenomenon. Gisewear has taken back to the air, and dragons are immune to all dragon breath attacks, but Cormygle is not in his natural form, and again, Gisewear exploits this fact by unleashing his Breath of Glasand attack on the much larger form, and his attack is devastating. This is the most beautiful destruction you will ever see as the bright green shards of incredibly erosive material grind and sand away the black carbon creature. Cormygle’s head is ground away and most of his body too by the enormous and powerful breath attack flowing from Gisewear, and he heads off to where he came from. He is making a Dimension Door, but before he enters, Cormygle appears below him in his natural form and, with a long magical rope that he throws, catches Gisewear by the tail and pulls him down. He starts to chant magical words, and Gisewear uses the rope against Cormygle. He turns in the air and flies headfirst at Cormygle, transforming his wings into lethal very sharp blades. His head is magically covered with a pointed magical force that will cut right through Cormygle. The earth starts to grow into large pointed cylinders and fly up at Gisewear. He dodges them with fantastic maneuverability, tilting sideways and rolling in the air, and Cormygle raises a wall of carbon that stops Gisewear cold in front of him. Gisewear slams into the wall that absorbs his motion and leaves him dazed, falling to the ground, and the magical force fades away. The wall falls, and sharp carbon cylinders rise from the ground, impaling both of Gisewear’s wings. Cormygle slams his closed right paw down on Gisewear’s head, and another cylinder rises through his head, killing him. Cormygle laughs, looking into the sky. “The dragons thought me an ally. Well, they are about to find out I am not.”