Legends of Marithia: Book 2 - Darkness Rising (28 page)

Where those who marched,
many rest without a sound

Flowers grow tall on this
land of rich soil

Their hunger quenched by
the pain of spoils

If I were to walk barefoot,
my feet would splinter

For the sharpest of metals
are not dulled by the winter.

What am I? Speak the truth
or prepare to meet your doom
.”

Mestal looked to Aryun with a blank
look on her face.

“
I don’t recall this ever
being asked to open this portal,” he said, gritting his
teeth.

They all looked at each other in
confusion, approaching Mestal whose hand remained on the portal.
They all muttered words of the question to themselves.

Tusdar brightened and asked excitedly,
“Those who marched… the soil enriched, by their blood?”

Aryun smiled. “I am impressed and that
sounds to be correct. Soil enriched by blood… sharp
metals…”

The lord looked over the awaiting army
and smiled as he approached the wall, screaming out his answer.
“You are a battlefield!”

The loud grinding overshadowed the
cheers of the vampiric army as it opened from a vertical split in
its centre to reveal a wall of mist. Looking deep within the mist,
Tusdar could barely make out what appeared to be the dark walls of
some kind of structure.

Releasing the wall, Mestal walked with
Aryun and Tusdar to the front line of the army. Aryun drew his
sword and raised it high.

“
We have been commanded by
our mighty queen to march into Marithia and reclaim their famed
castle, Greenhaven, in the name of Lord Shindar. A demon who turned
its back to the lord has taken the castle for their own! The blood
red moon has risen and will provide us with fresh clouds of blood
to ensure that we
never
go thirsty during battle. Let us drive fear into
the hearts of those who oppose us, let us show them that they
should bow in the presence of Shindar’s armies!”

The sound of shields banging on their
armour reverberated through Zhendur before they returned to their
stance.

Pointing his sword forward toward the
wall portal, he shouted, “To Greenhaven!”

Standing beside each other, Tusdar
stepped through the portal and felt his body be pulled into a beam
of light that pulled him through the solid rock and soil between
Zhendur and Kassina’s tower. He watched as he soared at an
incredible pace past the many layers and roared with the adrenaline
pumping through his veins.

With a whoosh, he launched
into the sky from the decayed grounds and found himself moving
skyward. Kassina’s tower seemed
alive
, and pulsed with the energy of
a bright light emanating from its highest point. Now feeling like
he was flying over the lowlands, he found himself above the tower
and plummeting down into the top of it. The tip of the tower was
shaped like a set of fangs with an almost blinding light from
inside of it.

He plunged into the tower and felt
himself falling through its many solid layers. Finally, he was
propelled forward and almost lost balance as he now stood at the
base of the tower in Kassina’s portal room. He turned around to see
the large misty opening within her marble wall. Looking deeper, he
could see a blurry Zhendur and the immense army within.

“
By the gods! Can we do
that again?!” he exclaimed.

Aryun laughed as he
indicated for them to proceed out of the tower and approached the
main gate, breathing deep as he shouted. “
Nos es obscurum permissum nos cedo
.”

The gate groaned as it lurched open
and he heard the odd metallic sounds of the vampire army arriving
through the portal behind him.

They continued their march out of the
gates and the sound of battle drums filled the air. Looking far
behind him as they approached the dry cracked grounds of the
lowlands, he turned to Aryun. “How will they get those crossbows
over this land?”

Mestal slapped his armour. “Oh Tusdar,
do you really think this is our first time out here? We told you.
Whatever we need, Shindar will provide.”

She cried out at the top of
her lungs. “
Permissum nos ingredior vacuus
poena quod rector nos per sospes
.”

Tusdar watched with amazement as a
path wide enough for twenty horses moulded itself from the tower
gate to the edge of the lowlands. The clouds darkened under the
blood red moon and concentrated over their position. He looked to
the clouds to see Shindar’s face formed within and felt the blood
drops hit his face from above.

Kassina’s voice filled his
mind.

Tusdar, you have done well
and you will always be rewarded. I will meet with you at Greenhaven
once it has been secured. I am sure that Shindar will be pleased
with our progress.

Chapter 23 :
Ripples

“
I have seen future events
unfold in front of my eyes as if I were brought forward in
time.

What greatly concerns me is
that those visions continue to change. I must let
nothing
stop the
prophecy of the blood red moon from being fulfilled.”

(Queen Kassina of the
Underworld)

Daylight broke through the canopy as
if there were golden beams from the land of the gods to waken
Veldrenn from its slumber. The wedding celebrations had continued
through the night and most of the city was sound asleep under the
safety of their newly crowned prince and protection of the dragons.
Karven shared a similar trait with Vartan and both of them hardly
ever slept for long periods of time.

They both watched as the enchanted
lanterns faded away with the power of the spell diminishing and
heard the groaning and creaking of the city’s canopy opening
slowly. Being awake this early in the morning brought a
breathtaking view as its reward.

Vartan approached the king of dragons
and sighed loudly. “I should feel elated, but I feel as if the
weight on my shoulders has been made heavier. My wife sleeps
beautifully in our bed and I truly am overjoyed for both the
wedding and being crowned… but I get the feeling that it will be
quite some time until such a day of peace can be had
again.”

Karven slowly stood and shook off the
dust from his scales. “Walk with me, we have much to discuss and
now is the best time of all.”

Vartan nodded and followed the dragon
king toward the training grounds, where no Marithian would be
within ear shot.

“
Young prince, I believe
that it is time for you to know more about Talonsphere and what
choices may lay ahead for your future.”

“
I always wished for this
day, please tell me more,” said Vartan excitedly.

The dragon grimaced and spoke
seriously, “Sometimes we wish for things that have a price which is
higher than we are willing to sacrifice.”

“
What do you mean? You
wished to save Nymira, and you did so. Speaking of which, how are
you managing to pay that price?”

“
Indeed, I saved our queen
from the eternity of a dragon’s death… but that price of Jade
is
nothing
compared to what you are about to learn. Andrielle has
already been kind enough to send her supply of Jade on my behalf,
which should buy us enough time to find more. Please, stay focused,
this is important and we may not get this chance until it is too
late.”

Vartan’s face turned serious. “Go
on.”

“
You are already aware that
Talonsphere is an artefact which was built as a final line of
defence against Shindar and his Forces of Darkness and you are
aware of its immense capabilities and that the prophecy of
Talonsphere is you, the child born of dragon’s blood will unlock
the weapon. Nothing is simple, and to put it simply, Talonsphere
is
alive
.”

“
I know, it spoke to me
when I was in the dark place brought about by Kassina’s
spell.”

“
Did Talonsphere say much
to you about this?”

Vartan shook his head, “No, it helped
me to reawaken and focused on helping me regain my memory. It did
mention a place called, Daessar, do you know of it? Anakari
mentioned it to me at the Jade Inn when I found her.”

“
Daessar… I do not know
this place by that name, but may know it by another. It does sound
reminiscent of the language of the ancients and I do recall them
mentioning the name a few times.”

Vartan brightened. “The ancients spoke
the name? What happened with the ancients, do they still
exist?”

“
The ancients were
secretive in nature, as are we. After the first war with Shindar,
we agreed that it was best for both of our kind to not know where
we would hide. I do not know if they live, but on our regular hunts
for food, we did come in contact with ancients a number of times.
However, they were not in their usual forms… they were in the forms
of unicorns.”

Vartan’s mouth widened as he asked,
“Unicorns? I saw one before that shadow demon killed Finn in the
woods. Does that mean they were trying to tell me something? Maybe
they wanted to warn me of the upcoming events.”

“
That
is
interesting. We thought that the
few unicorns we saw many years ago were all that were left of the
ancients as they had never resurfaced. It takes great magic for
ancients to travel in the form of a unicorn and they risk permanent
death if they were to be killed or worse, captured. They stay in
the form of a unicorn until they can return to their
bodies.”

“
What do ancients look like
and how did they become so powerful?”

“
Ancients look similar to
elves in appearance, but their skin is as fair as snow. They have
studied magic for longer than I can remember. There was a time when
we shared our knowledge and as such, we became more powerful. Our
ability of hiding our scales and being invisible to the eye was the
result of generations of dragons studying and practicing the spells
of the ancients. It somehow,
changed
us. Speaking of the
ancients, we need to discuss Talonsphere.”

Vartan remained silent as he stared at
the dragon and allowed him to continue uninterrupted.

“
Talonsphere is, as you
would call it, a machine. It is a kind of device that acts as a
holding chamber. Deep within it lays a golden dragon’s egg. Once
you activate it, it will unleash an elder dragon, a hybrid that we
have not yet seen born. It would grow at an enchanted rate that
would see the dragon at full size within one rotation of the sun
and it will stay at its peak of power until all of Shindar’s forces
are eradicated from Marithia. Then is when you will experience a
true time of peace. As I said earlier though, it will come at a
price.”

Vartan breathed deeply as he prepared
himself for the dragon’s words.

“
The ancients made it clear
that the way to activate Talonsphere is for the boy born of
dragon’s blood to sacrifice his human life and to be reborn within
the golden egg within moments of his death. Once you make that
sacrifice, there is no turning back.”

Oh Vartan! I am not liking
the sound of this
, said
Keturah.

Vartan’s face dropped as he
felt his heart pump faster. “By the gods! And you waited
until
now
to tell
me this? You watched me get married and said nothing?”

“
Calm yourself, young
prince. There is more to Talonsphere than you realise and events
have already altered your path ahead. I have studied our protected
scrolls and found that it
is
possible that you could delay your own death and
sacrifice the soul of the god within you. It would mean that you
would be stripped of your newfound powers and we have no way of
knowing how to control Talonsphere or its intentions. It would not
be the way of the prophecy, but it may be an option.”

Vartan’s breathing calmed down as he
asked, “Is there more?”

“
The only other possibility
is for Helenia to seek out Mother Dragon and request to be reborn
as a dragon.”

“
My word! Is that even
possible?”

“
It would only be at the
discretion of Mother Dragon, but it is certainly possible. However,
we would not know if she would grant the request until after you
entered Talonsphere. She would also have to grow as a normal dragon
would, and you would have a long wait ahead of you to be together
again.”

“
That is a price I am
willing to pay. Why don’t we go to Trahoterra now and seek an
audience?”

“
Helenia must be ready and
willing to ask Mother Dragon herself, there is no other
way.”

Vartan paced around the training
grounds, watching as inhabitants of Veldrenn began to rise and walk
around the city.

“
Helenia… my wife… if I am
taken from her, I do not know what she would do. Surely, there must
be another way.”

Vartan… I don’t know what
to say to ease your pain
, said
Keturah.