Scourge of the Dragons (28 page)

“We will figure that out later, now we need
to get rid of their residue.”

Mariah drew her sword as soon as she saw the
small pack of soldiers approaching them. Amber stopped and stepped
behind the former guardswoman. Lamont placed a hand on each of
their shoulders. He nodded before stepping toward the small group.
They stopped and started discussing something before coming closer.
Mariah could feel the tension building, but she deferred to Lamont
for now. He was far from as trustworthy as Wrotan, but he wasn’t
without his positives. The group of soldiers stopped and waited for
the three to initiate contact. Lamont reassured the two women
before heading toward the other group.

“I am Lamont of the spirit monastery, we do
not seek to fight anyone. Our goal is to meet up with a traveling
companion of ours,” he said.

“Hail, Lamont. Though I’ve not met you, I
know of you. I am Nicolai of the spirit monastery. You and your
companions are welcome in our camp,” one of the soldiers said.

Lamont thanked the paladin and motioned for
the other two to follow. They fell in behind Nicolai and his
paladins. The camp was much larger than Mariah was expecting. She
had been under the impression that there wouldn’t be much of an
army to challenge the dragons with. This was one of those rare
times when she enjoyed being wrong. The dwarves cheered as she made
her way past them. They remembered well how she and Wrotan had
paired together to take down the dragon terrorizing their lands. It
made her wonder how the hunter was fairing in his quest to find
Kade. She knew that their entire quest would be for naught if he
could not meet up with them. Her thoughts were interrupted by
Lamont tapping her on the shoulder and motioning toward the
tent.

“Where is Wrotan?” Hadrin asked as they
entered the tent.

“He went with two mages to find Kade. We are
to meet them inside the four kingdoms prior to engaging the enemy,”
she replied.

“This is unfortunate. He is our best
resource on fighting those beasts, I had hoped to be able to
discuss tactics with him at length before the battle. We must be
ready to move soon. In the meantime, I want everyone working on
getting as much information about dragons as they can. We want to
be able to provide Wrotan with as much information as
necessary.”

*

Kade threw up his hand, deflecting the
dragon fire away. Since Wrotan had revealed that they were inside
his mind, he found himself able to do things that would otherwise
be impossible. The shadow dragon let out a deafening roar as it
sprang toward the young man. He smiled as he used his newfound
powers to shrink the beast down to the size of a house cat. The
miniature dragon let out a squeaky roar as it redirected itself
away from its former prey. Kade grabbed hold of the creature, but
he hesitated. Something deep inside had trouble ending the tiny
little beast. He couldn’t tell if it was a remnant from the spell
they had used on him or if it was because he had shrunk the
creature down to a much smaller version of itself. The dragon
snapped at him and he dropped it. It let out a roar as it began to
grow.

“Don’t back down!” Wrotan yelled.

The hunter was holding off the spirit
warrior as Kade battled against the dragon. Both the shadow dragon
and the spirit warrior had managed to leave a sort of link inside
the young man’s mind, allowing them to tap into some of his powers.
He clenched his fists as he grew to match the size of the dragon.
The stepped back as he lunged forward. His fists shot out with
incredible speed, taking the beast in the face. The dragon
attempted to escape, but Kade was too fast. His fists slammed into
the creature’s face one after the other. It crashed to the floor
and he dropped down and continued the beating. The dragon let out a
weak roar as it began to fade away. Kade shrunk back to his normal
size as he turned toward Wrotan and the spirit warrior. The hunter
had managed to defeat his opponent, but only Kade could banish him
for good.

“Finish it and we’ll get out of here,”
Wrotan said.

“Gladly,” the young man said as a sword
appeared in his hand.

“This is foolishness, you know we are your
best chance for victory,” the spirit warrior said.

“I’ve heard more than enough from you!” Kade
yelled as he drove the sword into the warrior.

*

Wrotan rocked back as he came out of the
spell. He shook his head before looking around the room. Everyone
was looking toward Kade’s bed. The young man was beginning to stir.
He slowly sat up on his bed. Josephine placed a hand on his chest.
She slowly nodded before moving the hand up to his forehead. Her
smile was enough for everyone to know that they had succeeded.
Wrotan stood up and stretched his muscles. He had no idea how long
it had taken to free the young man, but it felt as though he had
been sitting there for years. There was no question that Kade would
be feeling it even more so. It had been a strange event for both of
them. The hunter walked over to the bed and put his hand on Kade’s
shoulder.

“We need you to recuperate as fast as
possible. Things have changed in your absence. The known world has
been pulled into this war,” he said.

“I’ll be ready to leave once I’ve eaten. I
am quite famished,” Kade said.

“We cannot allow you to go alone,” Padraig
said.

“What did you have in mind?” Wrotan
asked.

“My daughter, Zaira, has volunteered to
accompany you with her ten best warriors. In the meantime, I will
be bringing together as much of the army as I can so that we can
follow behind.”

“You have our thanks.”

*

Lamont closed his eyes and recited the words
to the spell. His heartbeat quickened as he was rushed to the
spirit realm. He was taking a serious risk using a spell that he
had never researched, but the benefits were too great for him to
pass up. The spirit world always gave him some measure of comfort.
This time, however, was vastly different than any other time he had
visited. There were dozens of tall, thin humanoid beings. They were
whispering to one another and periodically pointing at him. He knew
that these were the spirit people that he had always thought
existed. Aside from their longer, thinner arms, legs, and torso,
they were mostly human. Their faces were slightly elongated, but he
could see how easily they could use magic to modify their
appearance and blend in with humans or elves. One of the spirit
warriors broke off from the group and approached him.

“You are the one called Lamont?” He
asked.

“Yes, I am Lamont. What may I call you?” The
monk asked.

“I am called Sheltek. You would think of me
as part warchief, part prelate.”

“My life’s work has been dedicated to
researching your people. This is a dream come true for me.”

“We are appreciative of your work. You found
the connection between our people and the dwarves of old. That is
why we left you with the spell scroll. It was our hope that you
could act as an anchor for me and my people.”

“Why would you need an anchor? Can you not
transfer between worlds?” Lamont asked.

“The shadow dragons have kept us from making
the transfer. We need you to find out how they are stopping
us.”

“I can’t imagine they expected anyone to
assist you. What if I can find a way to open a portal from my
end?”

“It could work.”

*

Wrotan drew his sword as slowly as he could
to avoid his target from hearing. He raised his arm and was about
to bring it down when Kade pulled him back. The hunter shot his
companion a glare before turning back toward the Knight. His target
was still oblivious of the eminent danger. There were more
opponents than allies, but Wrotan felt that the element of surprise
would be enough to make up for the difference. Kade was dangerously
close to ruining that advantage. The younger man pulled the hunter
back before stepping toward the Knight. Zaira stared at the two of
them while keeping her bow trained on another of the opponents. Her
ten warriors were all huddled behind her with their hands on their
hilts.

“Attos, are you here?” Kade asked as he
stepped into the clearing.

“Kade! We thought you were dead,” the knight
said.

“I am quite alive, thanks to my friend.” The
young man motioned toward Wrotan.

“It seems that we are fortunate you were
with them,” Attos said when he spotted Wrotan, Zaira, and the ten
soldiers.

“You could have told me that they were your
friends,” Wrotan said as he sheathed his sword.

“I only spotted it at the last minute. My
mind is repaired, but there is still a bit of a fog that keeps me
from really remembering everything from my past,” Kade said.

“Shall we continue our hit and run tactics
against both armies?” Attos asked as he showed the others into
camp.

“I’m afraid we don’t have time for that. We
need to meet up with the armies we’ve raised and attack head on,”
Wrotan replied.

“How many armies should we be expecting?”
Zaira asked.

“The spirit monks, the paladins, the
dwarves, the wildlanders, the borderlanders, the Arcane Academy,
and now the fairy kingdom. I’m not entirely certain that all of
them will be decent sized armies, but together we should have a
fighting chance.”

*

Hadrin drew his sword as soon as he saw one
of the strange beings coming out of the portal. He lunged forward,
attempting to drive his sword into the creature’s stomach. Lamont
threw his body into the elf, knocking him to the side. Alandra
pulled the monk off the floor and drew her knife. She placed it at
his throat and demanded an explanation. Bertram pulled the two of
them apart and positioned himself between Lamont and the others.
The elf Prince glared at the two of them while he tried to think of
a way to resolve the situation. Cristoph quickly arrived and joined
Bertram in trying to get the two sides to communicate rather than
attempt to kill one another. Hadrin waited for the newcomers to put
away their weapons before he sheathed his sword.

“I am Sheltek, leader of the Kelimar. We are
the new leaders here. Lamont will be our representative to the
people of this world,” the newcomer said.

“Lamont, you fool. You’ve doomed whatever
chance we had against the shadow dragons,” Hadrin said.

“Hold a moment, perhaps we can negotiate a
treaty of sorts. The Kelimar may prove useful against the shadow
dragons,” Cristoph said.

“You fight against the shadow? This is
acceptable to us. We see no reason why you would need to be our
servants. Tell me, where are the dragons gathered?” Sheltek
asked.

“It won’t be quite as easy as you expect.
They’ve gathered a strong force of elves and dragons. In fact, the
shadow dragons are a mere fraction of what we must fight
against.”

“We have little knowledge of your world.
Those of us who avoided imprisonment have been unable to contact
us. How many dragons do we face?”

“Our scouts believe that we are up against
dozens of shadow dragons, hundreds of other dragons, and thousands
of elves. We weren’t so much expecting to win as much as deal them
a blow that would severely hamper their ability to rule. However,
with your appearance, we may have the upper hand.”

“Doubtful, we are two thousand strong. Our
numbers would fare well against the shadow dragons alone, but we
cannot hope to assist with these hundreds of other dragons. Nor do
we know if we can defeat thousands of elves.”

“I would wager that it is closer to tens of
thousands of elves. My father is smart enough to have a force that
could at least do some damage to the dragons. Our greatest hope is
that the other elven royals do not like the idea of living under
dragon rulers,” Hadrin said.

“Whether or not they join us matters not, we
will fight the shadow dragons and their allies until one side no
longer draws breath,” Sheltek said.

*

Finrul looked up as the portal opened before
him. Obrin strode through and glanced around the room. The sorcerer
knew that the King would want to meet with the other royals. He
stood up and motioned toward the door at the far end of the room.
The night elf King looked toward the door before shaking his head.
He pointed to the door on the opposite wall. Finrul raised an
eyebrow, but nodded in agreement. He knew that it meant Obrin
wished to speak with him alone before going to the other two. It
had been quite some time since the King wanted to speak with him
alone. He took a seat at one of the smaller tables in the study and
waited for Obrin to the do the same.

“Finrul, you’ve been loyal since the
beginning. The dragons like that and, more importantly, I like
that. I feel that I can trust you,” he said.

“Thank you, it is an honor that you feel
that way. How can I assist?” Finrul asked.

“Ophelia and Lothrin are looking to betray
the dragons.”

“You want me to stop it.”

“No, I want you to help me hide it from
them. This does not mean that I am in favor of such a move, but I
would like an out in the event that the dragons push too hard.”

“Is that wise?” The sorcerer asked.

“Likely not, but I don’t have much choice.
They will rebel whether we attempt to stop them or not. My best
course of action is to leave a bridge to safety if necessary,”
Obrin replied.

“I can see the logic in that.”

“In the meantime, we need to move against
the two remaining kingdoms. This will require the full force of our
armies.”

“Shall we tell the others?”

“I will tell them personally. You will go
first and ensure that our scouts do the job they are supposed
to.”

Obrin didn’t wait for a reply. He excused
himself and headed out the door. Finrul took a deep breath as he
looked down at the table. Everyone looked to him in their plans to
make sure the dragons didn’t subjugate the world. He sighed as he
stood up. There was never enough time for the amount of planning he
preferred. He used his magic to open a portal to the location that
Obrin had previously specified. There was already a small forward
camp set up on top of a hill. It was a defensible position, but it
also gave away their location. He looked out over the valley and
was surprised to see that there were two separate armies, one on
each side of the valley. The human army looked to have more than
fifty thousand troops, but the other army was significantly
smaller. He called over one of the scouts.