Scourge of the Dragons (24 page)

The massive dragon launched a fireball at
the keep. It slammed into the structure, sending a shower of stone
through the area. His dragons began attacking various parts of the
castle. Elbereth and her dragons made another pass, assaulting the
defenders with a flurry of fire, water, and electricity. Ungaroth
let out the loudest roar he could muster, signaling for all the
dragons to land on the walls and wait for the final blow. A massive
earth dragon burst out of the ground near the keep. The lone elf on
his back, Obrin, lent his magic to the beast’s strength. They
slammed into the keep with the full force of both of their power.
The dragons began roaring as they tore off pieces of the wall and
threw them at the keep. Obrin used his magic to deflect anything
that could harm either him or the earth dragon. Ungaroth took off
from the wall and called for Elbereth to follow.

He sent his plan to her via the connection
that all dragons shared. Her reply was a mixture of awe and
excitement. The two dragons continued their ascent up into the
clouds. Ungaroth gave the signal as he folded in his wings and
dropped into a freefall. Elbereth followed his lead and the two
creatures picked up an incredible amount of speed as they zoomed
toward the ground. Both dragons extended their wings and arched
toward the keep. They slammed into the structure with such force
that the keep exploded in a shower of stone. The gold dragon
smashed through the far wall and bounced off the ground beyond. Her
shadow companion vaulted over the wall and came to check on
her.

“I’m am sorry, great one. I have failed
you,” Elbereth said as she rose from the ground.

“Nonsense, dragons do not fail. We learn.
Even the Queen of the dragons needs to learn at times. War is not
your specialty, I should not have put you in that position,”
Ungaroth said.

“How did you know it would work?”

“I had faith in our combined strength. One
of us could have been injured, but it was a risk worth taking. Yes,
the shadow dragons are our allies, but they shall not rule us.”

“We are not doing this on orders from the
shadow dragons?”

“I take orders from no one. The shadow
dragons wanted revenge on the humans, why I do not know. It allowed
me to seize the opportunity to put a plan in motion to conquer the
known world. Stay with me and you will be rewarded. Together we put
on a display that not even the shadow dragons can ignore. We have
established our dominance over dragonkind, they have no choice
except to defer to us.”

“What if they attempt something even more
masterful?” Elbereth asked.

“They haven’t the courage. Look at how they
stare at us in awe,” Ungaroth replied as he motioned toward the
shattered keep.

*

Mariah looked down at the plate that the
fairies and leprechauns had laid out for her. The assortment of
fruit was foreign to her, but she recognized some of the other
parts of the meal. She had never known that most of them were
edible. Lamont and Amber both gave her an apprehensive look, but
Wrotan seemed undaunted by the strange food. He ate as he listened
to one of the leprechauns tell him about the dryads and the satyrs.
She had heard the tales of the forest peoples, but they were
considered a myth in Reddington. The thought of her hometown gave
her a feeling of longing. Things had snowballed out of control ever
since she met Kade, Amber, and Julian. She still felt a measure of
guilt for what happened to the last of the three.

“Is there something wrong with the food?”
King Padraig asked.

“Not at all,” Wrotan replied.

“What is the problem?”

“There is no problem. My companions are
still stunned to be here. Most human settlements do not consider
whether the tales of old are true or not. The citydwellers focus on
work, entertainment, and politics. Those in the more rural settings
care more for their fields, their families, and their traditions.
The world can be such a large place when you aren’t used to
traveling through it.”

“I would think that travelers such as
yourselves would be more likely to know about the forest peoples,
is that not correct?”

“We are not all travelers, your highness. I
was a guard in the town of Reddington in the borderlands. Amber,
too, is from the borderlands. Lamont is a monk from the spirit
monastery. Wrotan is a hunter who has traveled the human lands as
well as the elven lands,” Mariah replied.

“My pardon, I assumed things of you. Please,
each of you take a moment to tell me of yourself,” the King
said.

“As I said, I was a guard. My job was to
protect the next heir to the throne of Reddington until one of the
children was fit to rule. Though I did not realize it at the time,
I essentially resigned my post when Amber approached me asking for
assistance. The majority of my life has been spent in Reddington
itself. What little I have traveled prior to this journey has all
been inside of the borderlands.”

“I know a bit about the borderlands, though
I’ve not been there before.”

“I’m just a village girl from the outskirts
of Reddington. The farthest I’d ever been from home was the town
proper,” Amber said.

“As for me, I’ve made pilgrimages to some of
the human towns, but not much beyond that. The spirit monks keep to
themselves for the most part. Up until I traveled to the dwarven
lands, I was mostly a scribe,” Lamont said.

“That leaves our hunter, I believe,” Finian
said as they all looked to Wrotan.

“There is not much to be said about me. I am
a simple hunter. My life has been spent looking for the next beast
to slay. Unlike the average hunter, I am not in it for the sport.
The lands are dangerous for those without a way to defend
themselves. A traditional hunter tracks animals for his own gain.
He might be looking for a meal or a fine skin to sell. It is not so
with me. I travel to villages that are plagued by monsters. This
has led me through most of the four kingdoms as well as the elven
lands. As for who I am, I can think of one story that sums it up
well. The elves had me hunt down a wolf that had taken three
fingers from one of the children in the village. They had not
realized at that time that the wolf was the pet, as much as a wild
animal can be considered a pet, of a particularly nasty huntsman
that preyed upon the innocent. I rid them of their monster and led
the wolf to a more secluded place where he would no longer bother
the village.”

The table went silent when they realized
what Wrotan had meant by “monster.” Mariah was beginning to better
understand what Wrotan had gone through. She had no doubt that the
elves had turned on him after getting rid of the huntsman. What she
did not know was whether or not there would have been a way to
nullify the elven hunter without killing him. The Wrotan that she
knew would have at least tried to do so, but she knew little of who
he had been before she met him. She made a mental note to ask him
about it at a later time. The others were beginning to notice that
she and Amber hadn’t touched their food. She took a bite of one of
the fruits and nodded to her companion.

“Hunting other humanoids is not always seen
as a good thing, Wrotan,” Padraig said.

“Perhaps I was wrong to take justice into my
own hands, but nobody else was willing to bring him in. I did try
to reason with him, but he was not the reasoning type,” Wrotan
said.

“I did not mean to question your motives,
only to say that there are many who would see it as undesirable.
That is no excuse to make the weak choice. If the man was preying
upon the innocent, then you made the right choice.”

“Let us hope that is true.”

“Enough about that. Tell me about your
current quest.”

“We are traveling to the Arcane Academy to
see if they can use their magic to locate a friend of ours. It is
our belief that they will also be able to free him from his current
state.”

“The magicians will help you, but be wary of
their tricks. Often times, they will help you only if you agree to
their terms,” the King said.

“Thank you for your advice. We have little
choice in the matter. Our friend is enslaved by the vary evil that
threatens the entire land. We hope that weakening their grip on
Kade will also weaken their cause.”

“You speak of the elven army that invades
the four kingdoms?”

“That we do. They are headed by a pack of
dragons,” Lamont replied.

“Ah, dangerous beasts. If they are truly at
the head of things, we may find ourselves drawn into such a battle.
Enough about that, let us enough a good time while it lasts.”

*

Hadrin paused when they arrived at the gate.
The keep was one of several within the city of Reddington. Five of
them were owned by the noble houses, one housed the council
chambers, and the final keep, the largest of the seven, was home to
the royals. The council was made up of the five noble houses. Their
influence was currently much greater than usual since none of the
royals were old enough to rule. There was no reason to approach the
council as a whole when they could petition each individual noble
family. This particular keep was largely hidden by the greenery
around the outer wall and the ivy growing up the gate. The others
looked to the elf Prince as they waited outside the gate. Though he
had taken on the role of leader, it was not something that he
thought fit him well. This led to hesitations on several points,
but he pushed forward. There were two guards standing just inside
the closed gate.

“I’m looking for an audience with House
Tranquil,” Hadrin said.

“Amos does not admit uninvited guests,” the
guard said.

“On to the next.” The elf said as he turned
away from the gate.

“Are we really giving up that easily?”
Nicolai asked.

“Either the house is aptly named Tranquil
and they wouldn’t be in favor of war or they are hiding something
and wouldn’t make a good ally.”

“I can see the sense in that.”

The elf was surprised at how easily Nicolai
had agreed with him. His real reason had been that he didn’t know
how else to deal with the guards. They hadn’t spoken much since he
had demoted the man, but Alandra’s insistence that he be co-leader
with Charise may have changed his outlook. Hadrin had neither the
time nor the patience to consider it. The outcome was favorable for
both sides as it gave Nicolai some of his reputation back and it
allowed Hadrin to make decisions without worrying about the paladin
questioning him too much. He headed off toward the next noble house
with renewed purpose. House Dominion was the closest in vicinity to
House Tranquil. Based on the name and reputation, the elf Prince
doubted that they would be willing to lend a hand. None of that
mattered. Hadrin was set on appealing to anyone that would listen.
He wasn’t the best at convincing others to do things, but he would
not lose from lack of trying. Furthermore, House Tranquil’s
rejection had embarrassed him. House Dominion’s keep, unlike that
of House Tranquil, was displayed with prominence. The massive
building loomed over the area like an all-seeing overlord.

“State your business,” one of the guards
said as they approached.

“We seek an audience with House Dominion,”
Hadrin said.

“Lord Landros does not take in strangers,
but his son is often willing to see those that his father
rejects.”

“Excellent.”

“Only two of you may enter.”

Hadrin turned and motioned for Alandra to
follow him. He was unsure of how serious Landros’ son would be. The
last thing he wanted was to be made a fool of in front of the likes
of Nicolai. There was no reason for House Dominion to do such a
thing to a visiting elf, but the Prince had little experience
dealing with human nobles. The keep’s courtyard looked more like a
death trap than a garden. There were two sets of barracks, each
looked as though it could house as many as one thousand soldiers.
The inhabitants eyed the elves with looks of contempt. Hadrin
ignored the soldiers as he made his way to the main keep. The
entryway was at least as large and extravagant as any of the elven
castles that he had visited. Their escort led them to one of the
smaller side rooms. There was a small table for four and a couch on
the side. A young man no more than twenty stood up from the table
as they entered.

“Elves, that’s a first. Please, sit. My name
is Connor Landros, son of Richard Landros,” the young man said.

“I am Prince Hadrin of the night elves. This
is my associate and friend, Alandra of the sun elves,” the Prince
said.

“An elven Prince? Why didn’t you demand to
see my father?”

“We are not in a position of power here. My
father is at the heart of this war that is happening in the west.
My goal is to stop him. He controls the night elf army, making me a
Prince without a home. That is why we did not push for your father
to meet with us.”

“My apologies, I meant nothing by it. You
seek an army?” Connor asked.

“We know that the chances are slim here in
Reddington, but we do have allies that are willing to pledge their
support should the dragon army set its sights on the borderlands,”
Hadrin replied.

“They’ve already been here. We saw no
dragons, though. Their portals were more than enough to destroy the
council’s army. The nobles each have their own personal armies and
there are some scattered militias left, but we are mostly in a
weakened state. I’m afraid my father would never allow his army to
march at such a time. House Tranquil won’t go for it either.
Perhaps House Martine or House Barnet. You could try House Guilder
as well, but they aren’t known for going to war.”

“It seems we have much work to do. Your
assistance has been most helpful.”

“I would do more, were I able. My father
doesn’t like me accepting meetings in the first place, I wouldn’t
dare outrage him any further.”