Erik And The Dragon ( Book 4) (20 page)

“I wouldn’t have believed this would work,” Peren said. “But, the pain is almost gone, and some of the skin has been restored.”

Al nodded knowingly. “We dwarves do not have a great repertoire of magical spells, but those tricks we do have are powerful enough.”

One of the gray-haired dwarves
shushed
them all and glowered at Peren. “Stop moving,” he said roughly.

Al moved over toward Gorin and looked up to the large man. “We are going to ride out as soon as Peren is ready,” he said.

“What is the plan?” Gorin asked.

“My forces will handle the Tarthun threat. We will go south to Ten Forts.”

“To help Lepkin?” Gorin asked.

Al nodded. “We have a dragon to kill.”

Aparen and Silvi sat on a sun-bleached rock near the apex of a hill overlooking the forest they had just emerged from. The witch took out a bit of flatbread from her pack and offered a piece to Aparen. He shook his head and gestured for her to eat it all.

“You will need to eat something,” Silvi said.

Aparen shrugged. “I’m not hungry at the moment.” He stared off to the tree tops below and shook his head. “I was certain we would have found him by now,” he said.

Silvi chuckled. “It is not simply a matter of finding him,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Aparen asked.

Silvi took a bite of the flatbread and swallowed it without hardly chewing and then cocked her head to the side. “He has been here for a long time,” she said. “He has had time to alter the island to fit his needs. His magic is powerful enough to mask his presence.”

Aparen frowned. “You mean we won
’t be able to find him?”

“I didn’t say that,” she countered.

“Sounded like that is what you meant.”

Silvi laughed aloud. “If it is any consolation, you should take it as a good sign that we are still alive.”

“Why?” Aparen asked.

“Because, I am more than sure he already knows we are here.”

Aparen glanced around nervously. “You mean he is watching and deciding what to do with us?” he asked.

Silvi nodded. “The good news is we are still alive, which means there is hope yet.”

“When were you going to tell me?”

Silvi shrugged. “I warned you about him before we set out to find him. Fear not. If we continue moving north, I think we shall find him.”

“How can you tell? I thought you just said he can mask his presence.”

The witch nodded. “From here we can see the valley to the north. When the sun sets there will be a few moments where the light of dusk will help me identify where he is.”

“How?” Aparen asked.

Silvi stood and pointed to the valley. “There are no trees there. It is also nestled in between several large hills which are difficult to traverse
. The beaches to the south are best for ships, but the thick forests we just came from would prevent large numbers from being able to easily navigate the land. This valley is the best defensible position. As the light of the sun wanes, there will be a few moments during dusk where I might be able to pick out any structure in the valley. Invisibility spells are like mirrors, there is always a reflection to be found. For these kind of spells, that reflection is noticeable during dusk and twilight.”

“Can you teach me to look for it too?” Aparen asked.

Silvi nodded. “Keep your eyes to the north,” she said. “Do you know what a mirage is?” she asked.

“I have heard of them,” Aparen replied.

“Well, you are going to look for an area in the valley where the ground seems to be wavy, or even wet. Take note right now that there is only one small stream that fades off in the distance. There are no other bodies of water in the valley, so if you see anything that looks like water, or waves, then we will know the direction we have to walk.”

Aparen nodded and glued his eyes to the valley. They waited while the sun began its descent in the west. Orange and pink hues lit up the sky as if the clouds were aflame. Aparen glanced at the beauty, and then quickly turned his eyes back to the valley, scanning for even the slightest anomaly. Silvi was silent, also studying the landscape. It seemed hours that they sat upon the rock. For the longest time, nothing happened. Orange and pink gave way to reddish purple hues and the land began to darken. Then Aparen pointed to a point almost in the middle of the valley.

“There,” he said. “I see the ground looks wavy.”

The witch nodded. She raised her hands above her head and called out in an arcane tongue. A black bolt of silent lightning streaked down from the clouds and
dashed itself into the area Aparen watched. Aparen expected a great thunder to rumble through the valley, but instead there was a high-pitched shattering sound, as though a great window had been blasted apart with a metal rod. The waves disappeared from the land to reveal a simple, round tower of black stone.

“Not exactly what I expected,” Aparen stated.

“Come on, we don’t have much time before he will be able to repair his spell.” Silvi jumped to her feet and began running down the hill face. Aparen was quick to follow, stumbling a bit over the loose rocks as he bounded down after her.

Once they reached the valley floor the two of them began running much faster. The grass
whooshed
around them with each step as the knee-length blades swiped their legs and clothes. They leapt over the brook to land in marshy grass and lilies which slowed them down considerably. The mud and muck sucked in with each step, trailing grime and pungent black goo behind their feet.

“What is that smell?” Aparen asked.

Silvi motioned for him to keep up. “Just keep moving,” she said.

A weird, cracking sound caught Aparen’s attention and he slowed to turn around. A long, scraggly skeleton arm shot up from the grass behind him. The gray, cracking fingers curled into a fist and he heard a hissing sound. Aparen turned back around and started running faster. “We have company,” he shouted.

“Curses!” Silvi spat. She pointed out to their right and Aparen saw two skeletons slowly lifting themselves upright. One pulled a rusty sword from the grass and the other slid its jawbone into place before grasping a javelin and launching it at them.

Silvi waved her hand, disintegrating the javelin with magic and yelled for Aparen to keep up.

Aparen stumbled over a root and fell face first into the muck. The grit and grime rubbed into his skin, pasted on by the thick, cold grime. He quickly pushed himself up to his feet and wiped at his mouth and nose to clear his face. The ooze clung to his skin, almost creating a string of slime between his fingers and face as he struggled to clean himself. Finally he used the elbow of his sleeve and was able to take a breath without fear of the muck getting pulled into his nose or mouth. That was when he heard the loud creaking behind him.

He turned and realized he had not tripped over a root. A skeleton hand was clasped around his ankle even now, and its owner was shakily standing up from the ground, dripping the black ooze from its ribcage and skull. Its left arm held a hatchet, and its right arm was severed at the elbow, with the rest of the arm still holding onto Aparen’s ankle.

Aparen jumped to his feet, shook the hand free of his leg and instinctively called his shadowfiend power forth. In an instant the spikes shot through his skin, his muscles bulged, and his skin turned leathery as it had before. He roared mightily and lunged forward, shattering the skeleton with one swipe of his taloned claws. Silvi tried to warn him about something, but he wasn’t listening. He just leapt from one skeleton to the next, dodging their clumsy attacks and dashing them apart with his savage blows. Shards of splintered bone cracked apart, flying all around the valley, and yet for each skeleton he destroyed, three more rose in its place.

“Aparen, we have to keep moving!” Silvi shouted.

He ignored her. A pair of skeletons moved to attack. One held an axe and the other held an old, rusty sword. Aparen grabbed the hilt of the axe, ripped it free, and then blasted both of them apart with one swing.

A hail of fire and ice rained down, destroying several of the foul beings in seconds. Aparen then turned to see Silvi standing nearby, weaving her hands quickly as she called down the magical hail. He scanned the area quickly, his heart racing and his breath hot with fury. What had been only a handful of enemies had quickly turned into an entire valley of writhing, stumbling skeletons. There were hundreds of them. Despite the hail, there was no apparent escape route.

Aparen saw Silvi struggling to send spell after spell into the mass of enemies. Seeing the fear and concentration in her furrowed brow and fierce eyes awoke something inside him. A hot fire welled within his chest. He stretched his leathery wings and soared up into the air a few feet. He opened his mouth and out spewed a stream of blue and white fire that disintegrated scores of skeletons in the blink of an eye. Then he turned and dove into the grouping closest to Silvi, breaking them apart with the sheer force of his mass. He rose with a fury, striking some with his wings, others with his claws, and devouring others with the power of his fiery breath.

As he moved through the fray, a pale yellow force rose up from the skeletons and flowed into Aparen, giving him additional strength. Any blows that managed to cut through his savagery only caused small slices which were healed almost instantly as he continued to devour his enemies’ energy. Then finally
, a great thunder rolled out through the valley and all of the remaining skeletons fell back to the muck from whence they had come.

“What is your purpose here?” a loud voice echoed through the valley.

Aparen turned about, looking for the source, but he saw nothing. The black tower that had once been visible was now gone again, hidden behind a spell. “I have come for help,” Aparen said honestly.

The voice mocked him with a cackling laugh. “You come to ask for help? Then why do you come in your true form? Do you seek my power?”

Aparen calmed his nerves and allowed himself to shift back to his human form. As it had before, it drained him of his strength and he was left feeling weak. He doubled over, breathing heavily to catch his breath. “I have no quarrel with you. I heard that you had helped another before, and I wanted to ask for your help as well.”

No answer.

Silvi turned to the direction where the tower had been. “Gondok’hr has been slain. This is Aparen, and he has taken over as patriarch of the coven.”

“Interesting,” the voice mused. “Did you slay him?”

“No,” Aparen said. “He and I share a common enemy.”

“Why should I help you?” the voice grumbled.

Aparen shrugged and looked to Silvi.

Silvi nodded and took over. “We seek only wisdom and guidance. We don’t wish to take anything from you, nor do we wish to be a burden. What price would you name for your help?”

The air before them waved and shook, as if a great reflective cloth was falling from around the tower. The top of the spire came into view, and the spell disappeared entirely a moment thereafter. A large man stood at the base. His skin was dark, almost black. His eyes were brown and fixed intently on Aparen. He wore red silk robes and a pair of green velvet shoes that had long, up curled toes that peeked out from under the robes.

“I am called Dremathor,” the man said.

“I am Aparen.”

“I know who you are,” Dremathor said. “I have been expecting you.”

Aparen furrowed his brow. “If you expected us, then why attack us with skeletons?”

Dremathor laughed and a thick, brown staff appeared in his left hand. “I have the gift of foresight. I saw two versions of your visit. In the first, you came peacefully after Gondok’hr is slain in battle by one who wields a flaming sword. In the other, you come to destroy me after killing Gondok’hr yourself and devouring his power.”

Aparen looked to Silvi. His thoughts ran wild. “But I couldn’t kill Gondok’hr,” he said.

Dremathor sneered. “Not this version of you, no,” he agreed. “Seeing that you are hardly more than a fledgling, I will answer your plea for help.” He took a couple steps closer and pointed to the amulet around Aparen’s neck. “You will give me an offering. I will take one of two things. You are free to choose which you give me.”

“You want the amulet?” Aparen asked.

Dremathor nodded. “Or, you may give me your witch. The choice is yours.”

Aparen looked to Silvi, who simply stood silently looking down at her feet. Then he slipped the amulet up over his head and offered it. “You may have the amulet,” he said.

“You don’t realize how powerful that artifact is, do you?” Dremathor mocked. “This is what Gondok’hr sought, when he came to me for help.”

“I don’t care,” Aparen said with a shrug. “You can have the amulet as long as I can keep Silvi.”

“Silvi,” Dremathor echoed with a sly sneer growing wider across his face.
He held up his right hand and the amulet bolted away from Aparen to land firmly in Dremathor’s grasp. “A shadowfiend who values life above power is a rare find,” Dremathor commented.

Aparen stood firm and tried to stand tall to show confidence despite the rapidly multiplying butterflies in his stomach. “So now you will help us?”

Dremathor slid the amulet around his neck. “I have one more thing to ask of you,” he said. He pointed to Silvi and a cage of black bars encapsulated her instantly. She tried to struggle against it, but she had no magic that could overpower Dremathor’s spell.

“You said I could choose!” Aparen shouted as he rushed forward.
He slammed into a solid, invisible wall that knocked him on his rump.

“Calm yourself,” Dremathor said. “You can earn her back, but first you must do something for me.”

“Why should I?” Aparen shouted.

Dremathor chuckled and shook his head. “Your bravery is admirable, but if you continue to try my patience, I will destroy you. You live only because I am curious to see what you might become in the future.”