Key of Living Fire (The Sword of the Dragon) (51 page)

The black dragon dropped from the cavern ceiling with a thud that shook everything except the mighty cathedral. His warriors awakened around him, a throng that multiplied into a thousand strong. They marched out into the city beneath the vast cavern ceiling. They threw themselves against the columns, the wall that divided Valorian from his goal: the Tomb of the Ancients, his one path out of this place.

“Awaken! Awaken from sleep.” The dragon drooled thick spittle on the ground. “Thy day and mine is here. The prophets thought to hide me here; they thought to destroy me, but today I rise to rid the world of all that would oppose me.”

Valorian raced into the city. His mighty claws stabbed into the ground, pulling wrapped bodies from the dirt. He threw off their veils, and they stood with him. Not a single warrior spoke. They surged around him, turning down the city streets, marching over the rubble and between standing structures. Their swords and shields broke upon the pillar wall, but they sacrificed their lives to attack it. They pummeled it with weapons until the weapons broke, then smote it with their fists until they could do so no longer.

The black dragon raised his serpentine head and turned to the cathedral. The building rose as if taunting him with the little key that still glowed atop the pedestal. The little key that held raw power. The same power that had imprisoned him in this Hidden Realm. With mighty steps the dragon advanced, then stabbed his head into the stony ground and burrowed out of sight. He would come up under the pedestal and steal the power of Living Fire for his own use.

Specter saw Valorian turn to the cathedral, knew when the dragon burrowed into the ground what it would do. He stood, his leg marvelously healed by the weapon of Living Fire, and ran toward the pedestal. Beneath the energy dome, the key blazed with the Living Fire.

As he ran, the stones beneath him rose. He stumbled on a patio stone, caught himself, and ran on. The stones beneath the pedestal lifted. The pedestal tipped. The ground shifted, and a huge stone speared through the floor. Specter leaped onto it, reached into the falling pedestal’s dome, and snatched the key. He stood forth with the Key of Living Fire in his hand, gazing upon its fine craftsmanship.

Valorian’s head pushed through the floor, then his shoulders and powerful arms. The dragon’s claws snatched the pedestal, and, finding no key, the creature roared and threw the pedestal against the cathedral. The pedestal crumbled to the ground, and the energy shield vanished.

“Give thou the key to me, Xavion, or I will paint these cavern walls with thy blood!” The creature loomed behind him.

Specter turned and faced the creature, key in his hand. He had no weapon this time, no way to harm this beast. But what could he have done? This creature was beyond him—even with a blade in his hand.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ilfedo set the young woman on the floor and grasp his sword with both hands. He was going to attack. Specter felt despair fill him. Not even the sword of the dragon could defeat this creature. It would take someone as mighty as Albino. None other could stand, not unless an army stood with him. And Specter felt the tramp of a thousand men, Valorian’s men, marching to stand behind him.

Ilfedo felt as if evil poured in tangible waves out of the dragon’s eyes. He ran toward it, sword held wide. But the scales along the creature’s tail rose like barbs and whipped toward him.

He jumped, but the tail followed him, as did the dragon’s dark eyes.

Pointing the sword at his feet, he blasted fire, sending himself flying onto the dragon’s back. He stabbed the blade into the dragon’s shoulder, but the beast did not even turn. The wound healed, and the scales constricted around the blade, forcing it out of the dragon’s flesh. As the sword jerked back into his hand, Ilfedo stabbed the dragon’s wing. But as he slashed down the membrane, the cut flesh repaired itself.

“Thou art insignificant, human. I shall no longer play your game. Now thy end has come by my claw.”

The dragon’s hand shot toward him, and the shifting of the creature’s back beneath him upset his balance. Ilfedo rolled under the dragon claws and off its back. He grabbed onto a wing and, hanging there, stabbed the beast’s knee.

Specter’s mouth opened in astonishment as the mighty Valorian stumbled under Ilfedo’s attack. Never had a man stood up to Valorian in such close quarters and lived. Ilfedo dropped to the ground and stabbed the creature’s rear leg. Valorian kicked him aside, but Ilfedo rose with his body still aflame and slashed across the dragon’s belly.

Specter searched the nearby ground for a sword and hefted a hand-and-a-half broadsword. He ran toward Ilfedo and the dragon, but heard a grunt behind him. He spun and faced line upon line of dark-clad warriors. They gazed into his eyes—sneers curling their lips—and drew their swords. Specter’s hope fell as fast as it had risen.

His eyes fell upon the flaming key in his hand. Valorian wanted to destroy it, and he would do so as soon as he humbled Ilfedo.

The army of the wizard dragon tramped toward him, and Specter knew what must be done. He could be of no use to Ilfedo. Not here. But the Key of Living Fire must be secured where Valorian and Letrias could not find it.

He thought of Dantress, Caritha, Rose’el, Laura, Evela, and Levena. He saw them in the Hemmed Land. Dantress when she was the happy wife, and the sisters when they accepted their roles as aunts. And then there was Oganna. She was special above all the women before her. He had watched over them all in secret. He had been their hidden guardian. Today he would be the hidden guardian again. But he would guard the source of Ilfedo’s strength so that evil would never find it.

He rendered himself invisible, and the lines of warriors before him staggered back, eyes darting to and fro as they sought him. Valorian roared from behind him. “Thinkest that thou art hidden? My eyes see through that pitiable cloak, Xavion! Albino would have done well to come to this place himself rather than send you, for now you will die, and I will throw your carcass into the Palm of Heaven.”

“Yes, you can see me,” Specter whispered as he gazed out upon the bewildered lines of warriors. “But your servants cannot.”

Spotting a puddle at the base of the steps, he descended to it. He touched the water with his ice hand and willed it to form him a new weapon, one reminiscent of the one he had wielded in his ancient service to the prophets. A two-handed sword grew from the water; its blade became hardened crystal and so did its handle and guard. It looked similar to the sword he had carried long, long ago.

With a grim determination, Specter carved his way into the wizard’s host. The warriors cried out as he felled them. Their companions sought to strike but could not find him. He passed like a ghost through their midst with the key in his hand. He snuck past a group of men only to attack the ones behind them. Making his way between the ancient buildings that stretched as far as he could see in the portal-lit cavern, he pierced through the warriors’ midst toward the line of portals glowing between the massive pillars—portals that led to places unknown.

Ilfedo could not believe his eyes, for the other man had vanished, and the black dragon ignored Ilfedo’s attacks. It swatted him aside. “I will be back for thee, little warrior,” it growled.

The dragon spread its wings and charged its army. The warriors did not flinch as the creature rose into the air with inches to spare between its claws and the men’s heads. It roared as it glided out over the city. “Xavion! I see thee.”

Far out over the city it flew. Ilfedo stood rooted to the cathedral steps.

“
And now darkness will fall!
” The dragon roared, the sound of his words splitting Ilfedo’s ears.

A point of light preceded the dragon. It swelled and pulsed, a green phosphorescent bubble. “Remember the fury of my revenge, Xavion. Ye are filthy fools, both thou and the prophets.”

Specter watched in horror as Valorian summoned his demonic power. Green lightning zipped from the cavern’s ceiling, feeding into the wizard’s bubble, growing it. Specter had a hundred yards to go before he would reach the pillars. The bubble would reach him first.

The swelling bubble in Valorian’s hand drew the light of the many portals like a magnet. And when the dragon threw the bubble directly at Specter, the portals grew in size. The bubble splashed against the corner of a growing portal, as if caught in the portal’s gravity well. Green filaments sprayed onto the ground, and new portals swirled into existence. Valorian roared and dropped into the city with a flurry of his wings. He crashed through the wall of a large building, and the roof collapsed over his back.