“This is illegal,” she said as she placed it back down.
“I watered it down, it’ll do ya both some good. Listen to old Winston,” he said.
Julian grabbed hold of the mug handle and took a big swig. The taste would take some getting used to, but drinking the ale made him feel like an adult. Amber looked at the mug suspiciously as she raised it to her lips. She took a small sip before shaking her head. Timus motioned for Winston to bring her something else and the barkeep obliged. Amber thanked him for the tea and sipped it. Julian raised his mug and drained the rest of the watered down ale. He slammed it back down on the bar and took a deep breath. In the back of his mind, he wanted to forget the guards and give chase. The door swung open and a young woman in chainmail approached the bar. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she carried herself as though she knew how to fight. The blue tabard draped over her chainmail held the symbol of the Regent of Reddington.
“You called for the guard?” She asked as Winston approached.
“That I did. These youngins and their friend need your assistance,” he replied.
“My name is Mariah, I am here to help. Now, which one of you wants to tell me what happened?” She asked.
“Our friend was taken,” Julian replied without looking up.
“You’ll need to do better than that.”
“There was a man in golden armor with an orange cloak. Some of his soldiers wore gold armor and others wore silver. All of them had orange cloaks. They called themselves the Knights of Ardevale,” Amber said.
“We best get going if we are to catch them before they reach their castle.”
“That’s it? You help us without even asking who we are. How do we know this isn’t a trick?” Julian asked as he looked up at the woman.
“Enough, Julian. Mariah offered to help and we will take her assistance. Kade doesn’t stand a chance without it,” Amber replied as she glared at her friend.
The guardswoman shrugged before turning back to the door. Amber scrambled to catch her as Julian waited in his seat. He watched them leave the inn before looking back down at his empty mug. Winston and Timus both came closer, but he paid them no head. His mind was racing as he tried to think of any alternatives. He slammed his fist on the bar before sliding off his seat and heading for the door. A quick glance over the shoulder told him that neither Timus nor Winston would be joining them. He took a deep breath as he stepped out into the cool night air. Mairah and Amber were already several blocks down the street. He quickened his pace as he followed them. They slowed down as he caught up to them.
“Coming around after all?” Amber asked as she looked over her shoulder.
“This is our best chance of rescuing him,” Julian answered.
“That doesn’t mean our chances are high,” Mariah said.
*
Melisandre grabbed hold of her throne as the palace shook. She rushed to the nearest balcony and looked to see what had caused it. An entire wing of dragons was swooping down toward the palace. The massive gold dragon had already landed atop the highest part of the palace. Her kin took up spots on the various towers protruding from the palace and the surrounding walls. Several other dragons landed in the courtyard outside of the palace, blocking in anyone that wanted to leave. The Queen rushed back to her throne room and made her way to the back wall. She threw aside the tapestry and pulled down on the hidden lever. The throne slid backward, revealing a secret passage below. She rushed down the stairs and into a small chamber. Fenzik, Finrul, and several guards followed her into the secret chamber. The Queen pulled a level and the throne slid back into place. She turned to face the magicians.
“What is the meaning of this?” She asked.
“The dragons appear to have been driven mad by the scourge. We saw them behaving in a strange manner before, but it wore off almost immediately. Perhaps that is the case with their latest action,” Fenzik replied.
“Let us hope that is true. Do the dragons have knowledge of our escape tunnels?”
“I doubt it, but it is possible.”
The Queen paced back and forth as she considered her options. Even if the dragons had no knowledge of the secret tunnels, there was still a chance that they would spot her and the others fleeing. It was the only viable option that she could think of. She took a deep breath before motioning for the others to follow. The paths had not been used during the time of her reign. They slowed their pace as they got closer to the exit. One of her guards took the lead and exited from the tunnel first. He motioned for the others to follow as soon as he saw that the coast was clear. The market was abuzz with citizens, many of whom had taken the dragons’ appearance as a good omen. Melisandre pulled her hood over her head and did the best she could to hide her face. The move was not enough to fool her subjects and within moments they were surrounded by elves.
“Make way for the Queen!” One member of the crowd shouted.
“Hail Queen Melisandre!” Another yelled.
Fenzik pushed through the crowd and the others followed closely behind. The elves were so happy to see the dragons that they failed to make way for their Queen. Melisandre glanced back at the palace and saw the massive gold dragon pull her head out of the throne room. She kicked out her wings and launched into the air. Melisandre gasped as the creature swooped into a dive over the city. Their window for escape was quickly closing. The entire group pushed against the crowd and slowly made their way to one of the side alleys. They broke into a run and headed for the closest gate. Melisandre took the lead as their path wove through the back alleys. She came to a sliding halt as she exited the alley and entered the south gate square. The massive gold dragon sat atop the southern gate. She twisted around to tell the others to head back the other direction, but there was a massive silver dragon using its tail to block the way.
“Leaving so soon, my Queen?” The dragon asked.
“Why are you doing this?” The Queen asked.
“My true master wishes for us to see our full potential. That is not something that can be said for you.”
“Your true master? I don’t understand. What master are you talking about?”
“You shall see, in due time. For now, I ask that you and your allies accompany me to the dungeon.”
*
Wrotan stood with the others at his back. Blood dripped down from his bandaged head as he stared at the drake. The beast growled as it took a step closer. Two other drakes moved in behind the leader. The hunter had chosen the spot because his opponents would be forced to fight him one at a time or get in each other’s way. He knew there was little chance of success, but he hoped that he could injure the beasts enough so that the others could get away. Their last encounter with the lesser dragonkin had left them battered and nearly out of weapons. Wrotan had been forced to borrow Obrin’s sword just to fend off the three drakes. He motioned for the others to get as far back from the fighting as possible.
“You shouldn’t have to do this alone,” Alandra said as she leaned on Erlkan’s shoulder for support.
“Fighting drakes with a sword is near suicide, fighting them with no weapons is beyond stupidity,” he said.
The largest of the drakes lunged at Wrotan and attempted to skewer him with its claws. He brought the sword around and blocked the blow. The two exchanged attacks for several minutes with neither party landing a blow. His hands began to shake as his strength waned. The drake reared back and Wrotan saw his opening. He rushed forward and sliced the beast on its softer underbelly. The creature roared in pain as it collapsed backward. Wrotan managed to wrest the sword free. One of the other drakes rushed in and attempted to bite him, but he threw himself backward. A deafening roar echoed through the hills, sending everyone diving and covering their ear. The two drakes returned the roars as they launched into the air.
A massive black dragon swooped down and snapped the neck of the closest of the drakes. It whipped around and caught the other drake with its tail. The smaller creature writhed in p
ain as the dragon clamped down on the drake’s neck with its teeth. It discarded the carcass and landed down next to the others. The dragon extended its crimson-tinted wings and let out another roar. Obrin pushed past the others and made a symbol in the air before dropping to one knee. Wrotan and the others all fell to one knee as well. The dragon brought in its wings and lowered its head. Obrin let out a sigh of relief as he stood back up. He motioned for the others to stay as he approached the dragon. Wrotan watched as the elf King talked to the dragon. They appeared to get rather heated as they discussed something. Obrin finally nodded and turned back to the others.
“He is willing to take us to the Citadel,” he said.
Before anyone could ask any questions, another dragon dropped down and landed next to the first. This one was smaller with the same black color, except it had gray wings. The two dragons lifted the small group off the ground and took to the skies. Wrotan was amazed by the view. He could see all of the evening realms and well beyond. The hunter could see the Citadel up ahead and the night elf castle back behind them. He caught sight at what looked like dozens of birds attacking some smaller animals. It dawned on him that he was seeing the drakes and wyverns attacking the elves that had come in pursuit of the night elf King. He shuddered to think of their fate against those beasts. There were only so many creatures in the lands that could claim supremacy over the drakes and few of those were as ferocious.
Wrotan was amazed at the sheer size of the Citadel. The design was far from intricate, but the builders had needed to create something large enough for the dragons. There was a large tower in the center of a square wall with four towers. Each of the outer towers was large enough to house two or three dragons and the center tower was large enough to house over a dozen. The two dragons swooped down and dropped off their passengers in the courtyard below. They landed between the small group and the central tower. Dozens of dragons came flying in from the towers as well as the mountains around the Citadel. The hunter was surprised to see that the only dragon not affected by the scourge was the massive crimson and black dragon that had originally approached them. Each of the other dragons had streaks of violet across their bodies, some more than others. In all, Wrotan was able to identify four different types of dragons based on their coloring. There were black dragons, gray dragons, black dragons with gray wings, and the lone black dragon with crimson wings.
“Take the others to the dungeon,” the crimson winged dragon said.
“Hold a moment, Ungaroth. These are my friends and family, they can be trusted,” Obrin said.
“They may be your friends and family, but they are not our friends and family. You bring with you a very dangerous group.”
“How can you possibly know that?” Erlkan asked.
“We are far more involved in the world than your sun dragons, elf,” Ungaroth replied.
“Tell us your conclusions about each member of our group and allow us to defend ourselves,” Wrotan said.
“Ah, Wrotan, you do your adoptive father justice. He taught you well. We shall start with Alandra, niece of the Queen that wants many of us dead,” the dragon said.
“I understand why you would see me as an enemy, but the truth is that I do not agree with Melisandre. Her assumptions make no sense. Why would you or King Obrin unleash a scourge upon yourselves? It may affect others worse than you, but it still affects you,” Alandra said.
“A solid point. To answer your question, Queen Melisandre believes that because I am not affected by the scourge, I am its originator. Nevertheless, why would I infect my entire clan? Are not dragons a more powerful ally than this scourge? You seem to agree, no need for an answer to that question. Now, Erlkan, why should we trust you?” Ungaroth asked.
“My wife tried to have me killed because I wanted to give my cousin and his son more time. I may not have been an ally before, but she had forced my hand. My desire was to stay neutral, but I cannot do that now,” the sun King answered.
“Quite true, which leaves us with Prince Hadrin. Can you explain why you aren’t a danger to us or even yourself for that matter?” The dragon asked as it turned to the Prince.
“I’m not sure I understand. The scourge runs through my blood as well. We are all on the same side. Even if I did mean you harm, I’m not even close to being an expert swordsman,” Hadrin replied.
“Have you not told him?” Ungaroth asked as he turned to the night elf King.
“I have not, there was never a time when I felt comfortable revealing the truth,” Obrin replied.
“Then we must all go to the inner tower at once. There is much that needs to be discussed.”
*
Kade groaned as he came to. His head throbbed as he tried to gather his bearings. They had tied him to a stake in the middle of a tent. There was nothing else inside the tent, but there were two guards just outside. He tried to wriggle free, but his bonds were too tight. His mind was still in a fog, but things were starting to slowly come back to him. He remembered what happened in the tavern, but nothing after that. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of men entering the tent. He recognized the man that had kidnapped him, but the other man was unknown to him. They whispered to one another before coming closer and untying the rope. The thought of escape hovered in the back of Kade’s mind as he looked up at the two men.
“Time for some answers, boy. You’ll want to make it easy on yourself now,” the leader said.
“What do you want to know?” Kade asked.
“Let’s start with a name. What do I call you?” The other man asked.
“Kade.”
“I am Ansom, this is Knight-Commander Goraine. We can make things much easier on you if you answer our questions.”
“You didn’t need to tell him our names,” the Knight-Commander said.
“I have my ways, Goraine. Now, tell me what you know of this scourge.”
“I know nothing about it. One day the back of my hand was clear, the next there was a small black mark. That was about a month ago. In that time, the mark has grown a bit,” Kade said.
“You expect us to believe you know nothing about it? We are not fools. Who is responsible?” Ansom asked.
“Nobody is responsible, it just happened.”
“Things like this do not just happen, boy. Perhaps we should apply pain.”
*
Mariah handed a knife to each of her companions before drawing her sword. Julian opened his mouth to protest, but she had already moved on. The Knights of Ardevale had made camp in a small meadow in the midst of the forest. By the sound of it, they had begun torturing the young man they had captured. This had the guardswoman’s blood boiling. There were few things she hated as much as torture. She motioned for the other two to follow as she ducked down behind some bushes. They made their way to the edge of the bush before making their move. Mariah vaulted over the bush and shouldered the nearest Knight. Julian and Amber followed behind and attacked the other sentry. Amber froze when she had the chance to kill the man, but Julian had no such hesitation.
The other Knights began to stir. Mariah slew two of them before they could even stand. Julian knocked a third into the fire, but the other four got to their feet before they could be attacked. Goraine and Ansom came out of the tent with Kade in tow. The Knight-Commander barked to the torturer to take Kade while he went after the others. Mariah managed to hold off two of the Knights and Julian held off another. The fourth Knight grabbed hold of Amber and dragged her toward where the torturer had gone. Goraine joined the fight and Mariah was forced to defend Julian. The youngster threw his knife, taking one of the Knights in the shoulder. He ducked back behind the guardswoman and looked for another weapon. She held off the others, but Goraine called for a retreat. Julian started to give chase, but Mariah grabbed him by the shoulder.
“We cannot chase them,” she said.
“Why not?” He asked.
“They will likely try to set a trap for us. We need to move forward with caution and avoid an
y traps they may set. There is still a chance we can reach them before they get to their stronghold.”
“How can we have failed so easily?”
“We did not fail. They’ve only five soldiers left. Another surprise attack and your friends are as good as free.”
*
Melisandre fumed as she watched her former subjects setting up the strange device in her former throne room. The dragons were ordering them about and she had only caught a small portion of their orders. She knew that the device was somehow related to the dragon’s new master, but she had no idea what the device was. There was a part of her that desperately wanted to try to disrupt their task, but she knew she would be better served looking for an escape route. Her former subjects placed the last piece together and the device began to hum. A small opening was created above the device. The opening began to grow and Melisandre could make out a figure on the other side. A cloaked man stepped through the opening. He disengaged the device before looking around the room.
“Home at last,” he said as he sat down on the throne.
“My master, it is good that you are here. This is the former Queen and her subjects,” the gold dragon said.
“Excellent, I like efficiency in my servants.”
The man walked over to the Queen. He stopped and began to examine each of them one by one. There was something about him that felt off. He looked like a human, but also like an elf. His long black hair had small patches of gray at the temples. He had a stern face that looked like a strange combination of a human and an elf. Yet none of that unnerved her as much as his eyes. One purple eye and one gray eye. She shivered and forced herself to look away. Her reaction brought a chuckle from the strange man. He sighed before turning back to his throne.
“You have no idea who I am, do you?” He asked.
“There is something unnatural about you,” She replied.