A Dragon Born (7 page)

"I don't know," she said.

"Perhaps I can help you. Is there something you want? Something meaningful to you, perhaps?" Stavros asked with an amused look in his eyes.

"Well, I would like to get my ship back."

Cerric opened one book after another, magically flipping through their pages, but he found nothing of value. All the books the mage priests had collected in the storehouse turned out to be completely useless for they held no clue to what he was looking for, or more precisely, what the god, Kroma was looking for. He felt the powerful essence of the god flowing within him and the consciousness that was not his own gripping his mind, influencing his every thought, like echoes that happened before instead of after, and there was something else, darker and filled with rage that lived beneath the personality that threatened to consume him. Cerric was at once terrified and exhilarated at the sensation and he reveled in his newfound godhood, all the while slipping deeper into the infinite darkness.

"Can I be of some assistance, your highness?" Dakar asked. Cerric threw the book against the wall.

"What assistance could you possibly render me, mage?"

"Perhaps if I knew what it was you were looking for, I could help. There are many mages here who could join in the search."

Almost immediately after the ceremony in which he had been married to the Xallan queen and was inhabited by the god, Kroma, Cerric had begun an intense search of the palace, the armory, the Academy, and every book repository and weapons room in Maramyr. The god-king had practically torn apart half the city looking for something and, whatever it was, he had not yet found it and Dakar could sense the god-king's frustration.

"No need," he rumbled. "That which I seek is not here."

"We have faithfully collected every magical tome from the library and transported them to this place. That is what you instructed in the holy book, is it not?"

"Your understanding of the book is rudimentary, mage," Cerric told him. "Do not presume to know my mind."

"I would never make such a presumption, my lord," Dakar said. "I only with to serve my god."

"You only seek reward, Dakar. Do not forget, I know your mind and I see your innermost thoughts. Though I find it amusing, your playing at humility and servitude is a weak pretence. You seek power, something I do not disapprove of, but remember this; your power is mine, and you exist by my grace. Now quit this sniveling and groveling and embrace your power. Take what power you can, mage, for that is the way of things."

"Yes, of course, your highness. I am grateful for your infinite wisdom." Dakar replied. It appeared that Cerric and the god Kroma were one and the same, or at least Cerric spoke the power and authority of the god, though he noticed a slight difference in his voice when discussing different subjects. When speaking of matters that concerned Cerric more than Kroma, something about his tone seemed less threatening, even though Dakar could feel the magical link that connected him to the god, slowly draining his power and peering into his mind. It was unnerving and it had made him fearful that he, like the other members of the priesthood, was entirely at Kroma's mercy, but the god had made it clear that he did not begrudge him power. Dakar also did not miss the fact that the subject had changed, and he remained curious at what the god might be searching for, but he let it go. There was nothing to be gained in raising the ire of a god.

"Dakar," Cerric said. "Tell me of the war with Kandara."

"I dispatched mages to meet up with our troops shortly after the ceremony. They will report soon with details, but our advanced forces should have breached Kandaran territory. We expected the Kandarans to guard the passes but there has been little resistance thus far."

"Interesting," he said, and Dakar once again heard the distinctive rumble of the voice of the god. "Kandara is a mighty land, rich in minerals and dark magics. It has been many years since I have set foot upon it. Perhaps we should visit the front, to oversee the war directly."

"We have made arrangements for a royal escort to leave at your pleasure, your highness."

"Where is my queen?" Cerric said, his voice that of a man and not a god.

Calexis had been sequestered there since the wedding ceremony, awaiting the moment when she and the god-king consummate their vows, and she had been frustrated that Cerric, under the influence of the god, had almost completely ignored her.

"I believe she is in the royal chambers, awaiting your pleasure," Dakar replied.

"Good. It has been far too long since I felt the press of flesh and am in the mood for some sport, and some wine before we travel."

The rumbling power in his voice had returned and Dakar wondered what might be in store for the Xallan Queen, whether she would receive the attentions of a man or a god.

*****

The Maramyrian wine was weak and Calexis wondered if it had been watered. A servant replenished her cup as quickly as she drained it while she luxuriated in the steaming waters of the bath, hoping the heat and the wine would relax her. She had married the king of Maramyr and all that remained was to consummate the ceremony and by Xallan law, she would become the queen of both lands, an empress. The only problem was, Cerric had disappeared, neglecting his duty to finalize their marriage by giving her the pleasure she was due. Of course, Calexis had not expected the ritual of the mage priests to result in her new husband apparently being possessed by a god, so she had made an effort to be patient, but such was not one of her strengths and her anticipation was only piqued by the thought of coupling with a being of such power.

She felt it almost immediately, like the energy in the air during the rise of a storm, the power that emanating from Cerric filled the space around him and it excited her. Her own powers, which had changed with her Darga transformation, had become more instinctive, more animalistic in ways, and her senses had become more attuned to many things, especially the power of the god who was now her husband. She felt his approach, hot and powerful like the flows of molten rock that spewed from a broken mountain, radiating power from just below its jet black surface. The door opened and Cerric entered. Calexis tracked him with her eyes as he walked toward her, his gaze fixed upon her, smoldering with a fire she recognized. He stood behind her, looking down at her exposed body, spread out beneath the surface of the water and she tilted her head back to look up at him.

"Is my husband finally ready to take his lady wife?" she asked, unable to suppress the slight note of impatience in her voice.

"You are an interesting creature," he said, his voice low with the power of the god within him.

"As are you," she replied. "Do you think yourself the only one with ambition? We are much the same, you and I. We both seek power and know the joy of it."

"Of that I have no doubt, Calexis, though your ambition exceeds your reach. You would be wise to tread carefully with me."

"Or what?" she asked as she leaned back, closing her eyes in quiet defiance. She would not show him fear, no matter how powerful he had become. "Will you kill me? What a boring proposition. It would serve no purpose except to make your life less interesting."

Cerric laughed. This woman was intriguing. He could sense that she feared him, but such feelings as she had were miniscule in comparison to her towering arrogance. The lustful haughtiness of this queen did indeed mirror his own ambitions and he knew she would make an excellent companion to him, so long as she never lost sight of the truth of his power, a force to which she could not even begin to compare. Calexis sighed deeply, as one of her hands slid deep into the water between her thighs.

"If you're not going to kill me, then pleasure me," she told him. "Or did the god take your manhood?"

Cerric laughed deeply then he reached down and grabbed her by the hair on the top of her head. Calexis scrabbled around in the sloshing water, dropping her cup into it as she was dragged from the bath. She hissed and struggled as her wet feet hit the cold, stone floor and slid across its smooth, polished surface toward the bed. She grabbed at his hand trying to stop the pulling at her scalp but his strength was implacable and, a moment later, she was lifted off the floor and thrown onto the vast and luxurious bed. Calexis began to laugh as her wet, naked body hit the cushioned surface. Cerric stared at her for a moment from the edge of the bed then, almost as though he had moved with unnatural speed, he was upon her. She felt the heat of his power radiating from his body as it pressed up against her and she felt his manhood pressing insistently at her through the fabric of his clothing as his face brushed up against hers.

Calexis hissed, her fanged teeth glinting sharply as she reached up and grasped his head, her sharp, pointed fingernails that had become almost clawlike, digging into his scalp. She pulled him toward her with one hand and pressed her full lips against his. With her other hand she tore away his clothes, her nails cutting through fabric and revealing the heat of his flesh. A moment later, he was within her and her body shuddered as the terrifying power that ran through him as it coursed and pulsed within her. Calexis wrapped her legs around him as he thrust himself deep inside her and she reveled in the knowledge that he was hers, and that he was so much more than just a man, or even a king, but she now knew the truth of him and she felt the power of a god.

*****

The whole palace shook and the city of Maramyr felt the rumbling beneath the ground. People in the streets ran for cover, unsure of what was happening, and soldiers readied their weapons, wary of an attack but Dakar ignored the sounds and tremors beneath his feet, for he knew very well what was causing the disturbance. He had stayed behind at the Academy library to look over some of the records that were kept by the librarians and had made a discovery. Someone had altered the ledgers that indicated the locations and of the many books that were housed in the library and it had been done using magic. Dakar was surprised that none of the mage priests had noticed the differences when they had begun removing book of magic from the many shelves, following the wishes of the one god.

There was something that Kroma wanted, and Dakar was determined to find out what the god was searching for. Whatever it was, it was important and probably something powerful, for it had something to do with the third age, which he had surmised from the books the god had already searched. He had compared the records his mage priests had made of the confiscated books with the ledgers at the library and though they matched, he had spent much time in the library and knew that books were missing. All of them pertained to the third age, the time when the gods still walked in the world, an age that had ended when the gods departed the world for a heavenly realm that some called Etherium, a place to which the priesthood had opened a portal, allowing their god to return. Dakar knew of the existence of such a place from his own studies as a young mage, and he remembered mention of it in numerous books in the library at Blue Island, books that he knew would have copies in the Academy library, but he could no longer find any of them. Someone had quietly removed every reference to the third age and the heavenly realm of the gods, and he wanted to know why.

Dakar made his way to the temple square where the enormous structure the priesthood had built towered over the aging temples of the old gods and he stopped outside the temple of the god, Kroma. It had occurred to him, when the god had first appeared, fusing with the body and mind of Cerric, that all this time the priesthood had been working to glorify a god they believed to be the one and true deity, which was what the book had told them, or at least how they had interpreted its messages.

In their earnest belief that this was the truth, the priesthood of mages had actively discouraged worship of the old gods, suggesting for years to the people they encountered in their travels that the old gods had abandoned the world, then, after that idea had taken hold, promoting the idea that the old gods might have never existed at all. Dakar himself had come to believe the truth of this, feeling the power of his connection to the Book of One, the link to the god he had worshiped and who now walked in the world, but the god had revealed himself to be one of the old gods, which created a conflict for the mage. If the one god was really the old god, Kroma, then what of the other gods? Did they too exist?

*****

"You've got some nerve, sailing straight into the pirate's lair," Lanos yelled as the crew of the Al-Andor threw lines to the many pirates that had gathered along the harbor docks of Meer Island when the ship had appeared.

The pirates tied off the ropes and the crew of the ship hauled at capstans, pulling the lines tight and slowly moving the ship closer to the dock. Sten leaned on the rail of the ship and wondered how much trouble he and his crew might be in, for the man who stood on the raise portion of the docks, along with the pirate men and women who accompanied him, looked to be well armed and none too pleased to see an Aghlar ship coming to port off at their dock.

"You're Lanos-Meer?" Sten asked.

"Aye, that's me," Lanos replied. "And what fool might you be?"

"The name's Sten, first mate of the Al-Andor."

"First mate? And where's your captain? Why does he not speak for the ship?"

"He's back at Aghlar, we sailed without him."

"A mutiny then?" Lanos was intrigued. Aghlar ship would be a welcome addition to the Meer pirate armada.

"Nay," Sten told him. "Captain Carlis is still our captain. We're just on an errand for the Lady."