Dragon Alliance: Rise Against Shadow (40 page)

“You called, my good sergeant?” Dekeen answered.

“I just talked to Captain Mkel. He requested that the council leaders meet him at a small town outside Battle Point. There was a surprise attack of substantial force along with several chromatic dragons.”

“Is he all right?” Dekeen asked with a concerned tone in his voice.

“He and Gallanth had a rough fight but held the day,” Toderan replied. “Gallanth is resting now but there will be another fight tomorrow, and they need us to be there by nightfall.”

“How are we getting there?” the elf asked.

“Jodem will be coming back to guide Silvanth to teleport us,” Toderan answered.

“I will be at the Weir shortly. Just have to gather a couple of things, since we are going into battle,” Dekeen exclaimed.

“I will see you and Lady Beckann then,” Toderan said as he blanked his crystal. When the Keystone Weir council members were away on a mission or traveling, Annan and whatever senior officer from the garrison that remained would be in charge of the Weir. Beckann and Watterseth would help if need called for it and if they weren’t traveling with the rest of the council. However, this time, the situation required both of their magical abilities to be brought to bear.

Toderan thought to himself that Tegent and Watterseth would be very useful for this mission. Tegent, the Weir’s bard, was also an excellent hunter, warrior, and expert archer. He made up for Deless staying behind to oversee the patrols that were still being conducted to watch the gathering army in the fire giant lands. Watterseth would be needed with his combined healing power and combat prowess, for the condition of the prisoners would likely not be good, and he could defend himself quite well, while a normal healer would need protection. Minimizing the size of the group would also keep them from being discovered.

He then picked up his crystal and spoke both their names into it. Within seconds, both their faces appeared side by side on the mirror surface.

“Yes, my good sergeant?” Tegent’s smiling face appeared.

“You called, my son?” Watterseth answered.

“Captain Mkel needs our assistance for a rescue mission of several Battle Point legionnaires, who ran into some trouble in a big fight they just had,” Toderan explained.

“I’ll be there in a couple of hours,” Tegent said.

“Likewise, my son,” the cleric answered.

“Excellent; see you all this afternoon,” Toderan replied and blanked his crystal. He got up and walked back to his living quarters to get his armor and gear ready, and let his family know that he would be leaving for a day or two.

All the remaining members of the Weir council gathered later that afternoon in Mkel’s leader’s room. “Gentlemen and my lady,” Toderan said as soon as they were all gathered, giving a slight bow to Beckann. “As per Captain Mkel’s request, we are to take part in a rescue of a dozen captured Battle Point soldiers that were taken during a battle that took place earlier today in the village of Handsdown. This is a small but busy trading town located approximately one hundred miles east of Battle Point.” He put his crystal down and spoke several keywords, and the image of the enemy encampment appeared, along with a glowing map of the area. “Here is a view that Captain Mkel sent me of the enemy camp where the prisoners are held. We will be teleported by Silvanth to Handsdown, which is now back in Alliance hands, and get more details then. Any questions?”

“Was the fight today a big one?” Ordin asked.

“Yes, a large force that included several chromatic dragons, drow, a new type of creature called dragon spawn, a half breed of man and dragon, and several hundred orcs and men,” Toderan explained. “Gallanth and Mkel teleported a mixed battalion from Battle Point, and their combined strength, along with Jodem, drove the invaders back and decimated them. Several new and disturbing events unfolded, however. Two of the chromatics had an extraordinary power, and a new breed of dragon made its appearance. While Gallanth and Mkel defeated all five dragons and helped route the enemy air and land forces, it was still a tough fight.”

“Jodem is coming to teleport us to the battle?” Ordin asked.

“Yes, he should be here to guide us, but Silvanth will teleport our group …” Toderan began to answer but was interrupted by the sound of the tower watch horn blowing, followed by a distant screech.

“That is Vatara’s cry; Jodem has arrived,” Dekeen spoke out.

“He is weary and concerned over the events of today,” Beckann added. Her powers of foresight almost rivaled Gallanth’s, and as far as elves were concerned, only Queen Eladra herself had a greater ability to see the future and be aware of the events around her. Vatara streaked into the Weir and flew directly over to the council room. The great eagle back winged and landed. The portly wizard slid down from his feathered mount and walked over to the group.

“Gentlemen, and my lady,” he said with a quick head nod to Beckann, “are we ready for a rescue, my friends?”

“I understand there was a heavy drow presence at the fight today,” Beckann asked.

“Yes, news travels fast, I see. A priestess and a male sorcerer of mid power led the dark elf company. I had to slay him, but Mkel and Gallanth were lucky enough to capture her. We questioned the priestess back at the village, but then a Shidanese black scarab assassin killed her. We started to get an interesting picture from her, in spite of her resistance. She did, however, tell us about the extraordinary power of the blue and black dragons that Gallanth and Mkel slew, and the origin of these new talon dragons as well as the man/dragon spawn. Apparently the Morgathians and drow are experimenting with cross breeding and introducing dark crystals into the mix,” Jodem explained. “She also alluded to some impending threat but was killed before I could get it out of her.”

“I will have to let Eladra and Denaris know of this, Master Jodem,” Beckann spoke up. “We must link dragonstones before we depart.” The dragonstones in both wizards’ staffs and in weapons had memories that can be shared just by the gemstones touching each other or by a directed message. The latter takes more time, however, and drains energy from the powered gems. These images can then either be projected or accessed telepathically, just as with the seeing crystals, only in greater detail.

“No problem, my lady,” Jodem replied. “Now are all of you ready to go, in say one hour?” All nodded in agreement. “Good, Ordin, why don’t you ride with Toderan; Watterseth, you can ride with Tegent on his griffon,” he delegated. “Let us go, there is a long night ahead for us, followed by an even longer day.”

“Yes, Master Wizard, I am looking ever forward to felling giants,” Ordin said, “but can’t we just teleport from the Weir grounds?” The dwarf tried ever so tactfully to hide his fear of flying.

“Master Ordin, Gallanth can perform teleportation from the ground much easier than I or Silvanth, and it takes more energy from my staff to do that. You will be fine on Toderan’s Alvanch,” he said with a slight smile, seeing through Ordin’s bravado.

“Yes, of course, Master Wizard. I just thought that it would be faster to just leave from the ground,” he courteously replied in a shallow attempt to hide his anxiety about flying on something besides Gallanth.

“No worries; we need to prepare to leave. I will meet you all back here in an hour, agreed?” Jodem asked the group. A rounding yes came from the assembled, after which he turned and started to walk to his quarters to gather more materials for his spells and two old books he needed for background on the potential fight they were facing.

They all met back at the landing with all their gear ready for a several-day fight, in case they could not get back to the Weir for a while. They all mounted up, with Ordin grudgingly climbing onto the white winged horse. He secured himself very tightly with the flying straps and grabbed Toderan’s belt. Toderan looked at Jodem and smiled at Ordin’s trepidations. Annan mounted on Silvanth’s back, and the statuesque silver dragon moved in front of the group.

“After you, Master Wizard!” Toderan shouted to Jodem.

A smile came over the stout wizard’s face. He then nodded to Silvanth and gave Vatara a small nudge with his heels, and the giant eagle spread its wings and sprung into the air. Toderan’s winged horse galloped and launched off the ground, followed by Dekeen’s eagle and Lupek’s and Tegent’s griffons. Beckann closed her eyes and spoke a small incantation in Draconic, after which a soft glow enveloped her and her unicorn, which she had charmed with a flying spell. Silvanth let out a low roar to announce she was taking to the air and then gracefully took off. Once they were all airborne above the plain past the Severic River, Jodem waved his staff to signal them to form up to within wingtip distance of Silvanth. The two eagles, two griffons, unicorn, and winged horse all angled to where they were almost overlapping wing lengths under and around the great silver dragon.

“Get close, my friends,”
Silvanth explained. The dragonstone in Jodem’s staff started to glow brightly to give the silver dragon a picture of the teleportation point. The familiar blue field surrounded them, and they disappeared. They emerged over the village of Handsdown. Toderan looked down to see the Battle Point soldiers still digging in and building the new defenses of the town, with Gallanth laying on the grass field on the north side, looking up at them. He gave them his greeting roar, which was acknowledged by their mounts and his mate, who answered his challenge.

Mkel looked up as Gallanth was peering to the sky. An image of the Weir council group formed in his head.
Jodem and my wife brought our friends
, Mkel thought to himself. The Battle Point soldiers immediately dropped their shovels and grabbed their weapons. They were not accustomed to the deep dragon roars of the metallics, not yet able to distinguish a dragon’s greeting versus a challenge roar. Once they saw the Weir group’s mounts and recognized a silver dragon, they knew they were Alliance flying creatures and lowered their weapons, resuming their duties, but they were all still on edge. Jodem led the group in a descending circle around the village so all the legionnaires could tell they were friendly, then back winged to land beside Gallanth in the field.

Silvanth did not land; she stayed in her lazy circular pattern around the town and wished her mate the best of luck, along with an invitation in case she was needed for the fight to come. Annan did the same to Mkel through her seeing crystal. Mkel was touched by the sentiment from his wife and told her to give Michen a kiss for him before the silver dragon teleported away.

All of the Draden Weir council dismounted; Ordin was the first one off of Alvanch, grabbing the ground in his normal ritual to thank Jevya, the dwarvish word for the Creator, for his safe return to land. As they all walked over to Mkel and Gallanth, the great gold dragon slightly bowed his head in a welcome salute. Everyone in the party returned the salute to both Gallanth and Mkel.

“Welcome to Handsdown, my friends,” Mkel greeted his comrades.

“You and Gallanth look like you went through hell,” Dekeen said as he embraced Mkel.

“A tough fight, Captain?” Toderan asked as he also gave Mkel a quick hug.

“Slightly tougher than we anticipated,” Mkel said. “We were doing well until those five dragons arrived. We flamed all of them, but the black and especially that blue dragon put up one hell of a fight. Its extraordinary power was based on a piece of dark crystal imbedded in its heart.”

“Amazing; that is what the drow priestess stated as well?” Watterseth asked.

“Yes, and believe me and Gallanth, it made that blue dragon a much more formidable opponent, so I have no reason not to believe her, even though the blue’s carcass has not been examined yet,” Mkel answered.

“Yes, I see the damage on Gallanth’s hide. My large friend, let me take care of these for you,” Watterseth told Gallanth.

“No, my good cleric, there are several Battle Point soldiers who need your attention more than I. These wounds will be healed by tomorrow,” Gallanth answered.

“I have plenty of healing power to go around, and I will attend to them with undue haste,” Watterseth said. “Right now we need our Draconic benefactor in top shape if we are to repatriate our unfortunate brothers tomorrow, especially if we run into something like you did today. Their lives and ours will likely depend upon your strength, my good dragon.” Watterseth spoke to Gallanth in a lightly scolding manner. He was one of the few people who could convince Gallanth to change his mind. Mkel, Beckann, Silvanth, and sometimes Jodem were the only others who enjoyed this privilege.

“Yes, my good priest, I will obey your holy command,” Gallanth said back with a bit of sarcasm.

Watterseth looked at Gallanth with a slight expression of admonition and a furrowed brow at his teasing. He raised his mithril alloy mace, with its sapphire dragonstone glowing in a brilliant blue. He then whispered several prayers in Draconic, which was considered by many clerics as a holy language, even though all but the oldest of the scripture books were written in common tongue. Draconic was an extremely difficult language to decipher, for it was written in three-dimensional symbols, which can take on different meanings depending on who wrote it and who reads it. As his mace glowed intensely, he lowered it and touched Gallanth’s armored hide. The whole of his colossal body was immersed in faint blue light. The great dragon lowered his head slightly and closed all of his protective eyelids.

As the light subsided, Watterseth pulled his mace away, and Gallanth raised his head. The deep gashes that were well on their way to being healed were now nothing but faint scars. Even these would be gone in a couple of days. “Thank you, my good priest, that does feel better, but now you have several brave soldiers to attend to,” Gallanth stated.