Scourge of the Dragons (21 page)

“My lady, the music is quite wonderful.
Where did you learn such a melody?” Kade asked.

“It is an ancient song of my people. They
call it the ballad of the two lovers. There are words that
accompany it, but my voice would not do them justice,” she
replied.

“I find that hard to believe.”

“You are too kind, sir Kade. To think, a
real Knight escorting me. Most women only dream of such
things.”

“What did you say?” He asked.

“I said that you are too kind, sir
Knight.”

“No, you said my name. How is it that you
know my name?”

The maiden disappeared and Kade found
himself alone in the forest again. He searched his mind to attempt
to ascertain whether the visions were like before or if they were
something completely different. The latter seemed far easier to
swallow, but that did not mean it was true. He set off toward the
path that had led him into the strange forest. Attos would be able
to better explain whether or not the forest could have played some
part in his visions. His trip out of the heart of the forest was
uneventful, but the new leader of the Knights of Ardevale and the
Knights themselves were nowhere to be found. Kade sighed as he sat
down against a tree. He let himself drift off to sleep in hopes
that another vision would come to him.

*

Once again, the young son of a tailor found
himself in the presence of the dragon and the warrior. They had
taken a break from their quarrelling and were discussing something
as Kade approached. He began to speak, but the other two leaped
backward and challenged each other. The warrior pulled a spear of
pure light off of his back and threw it at the dragon. His opponent
let out a roar and knocked the spear aside. The creature retaliated
with a quick blast of fire. Kade attempted to manipulate that which
was around him, but was unable to do so. The warrior grabbed hold
of another spear and threw it at the dragon. Each of the opponents
seemed to be open matched. The young man looked on for what seemed
like hours. Both of the combatants were highly skilled and neither
seemed able to gain the advantage.

“Enough! I may not fully understand what is
happening, but I command you both to stop!” Kade yelled at the two
of them.

“You are a very persuasive man, but I am
afraid that your powers are useless here,” the warrior said.

“What if I told you to leave?

“We are not children, foolish human,” the
dragon replied.

“I will find a way to remove you both. The
visions must stop. No man should be forced to endure such
torment.”

Kade felt a sharp pain in his head as he
tried to will the visions away. Both the dragon and the warrior
staggered backward in pain. He continued to push and they both
cried out in anguish. The dragon collapsed onto the floor and
slowly disappeared. A rush of exhaustion came over the young man,
but he continued to press on. The warrior fell to one knee before
disappearing as well. Kade began to laugh as he leaped through the
air in joy. His tormenters were gone and his mind was free. He
dropped to his knees as his body was overcome with weakness. His
eyelids closed as he slumped to the floor.

*

Finrul called for the army to halt as castle
Alartius came into view. A small army had made camp in the valley
between the castle and the elf’s current position. He could tell by
the banners that the army consisted of the infamous dragon hunters
and the dragon Knights. Though they specialized in fighting
dragons, their prowess against any opponent was not to be scoffed
at. The sorcerer paced back and forth as he contemplated his
options. His own forces were far superior to those in the valley as
well as whatever was left of the Alartian armies, but he knew that
the dragons preferred fewer casualties. He called over to King
Lothrin, Queen Ophelia, and Revin.

“We find ourselves pitted against the dragon
hunters as well as the castle defenders. More than likely, some of
the hunters and Knights are within the castle as well. There is no
doubt that our forces are strong enough to defeat both armies, but
I do not want to weaken our position. I know that the two of you
are fully aligned with the dragons, but I would like to keep our
forces strong in the event of their betrayal,” Finrul said.

“Though I do not think we will face the
wrath of the dragons, your plan is not without merit. Even if the
dragons were to swear to us that they would never betray us, it is
best to conserve as many troops as we can,” Queen Ophelia
replied.

“You have a mastery of those portals, why
can’t we use one of those to storm the castle?” King Lothrin
asked.

“The dragons would not like to hear that we
passed on a chance to deal a devastating blow to an army of dragon
hunters,” the sorcerer replied.

“Is there no way to use the portals to
destroy the dragon hunters?” Revin asked.

“Yes, of course. Why didn’t I think of that
sooner? Good work, Revin.”

“What about us?” Queen Ophelia asked.

“Ready your troops,” Finrul replied.

*

Attos slumped in his saddle as he slowly
rode toward the kingdom patrol. He ignored their calls for him to
identify himself. His plan had a good deal of risk, but the reward
would be well worth it. The patrol called out to him once again,
and again he ignored them. He could hear their horses getting
closer. The plan required a level of deception that the Knights
were unaccustomed to, but they had embraced the idea of assisting
the populace at whatever cost. Loss of reputation in the eyes of
their enemies was a small price to pay for the lives they could
save by weakening all sides of the war. The new leader took a deep
breath as the patrol came closer.

“He must be injured,” one of the soldiers
said.

“Who would do this?” Another asked.

“The elves, they’ve no scruples. Quickly,
check to see if he is alive,” their leader replied.

“In the name of the Knights of Ardevale,
throw down your weapons or die!” Attos yelled as he drew his
sword.

His Knights rushed out of the trees and
surrounded the kingdom patrol. He could see the looks on the faces
of his opponents. They were looking to their own leader for an
answer. The man nodded his head as he detached his scabbard and let
it fall. His troops followed suit. Attos lowered his sword and
ordered the patrol to dismount from their horses. He watched them
carefully, expecting that one or more of them would try to catch
his Knights off guard. His suspicions proved to be false as his men
were able to gather up the weapons and horses without incident. He
dismounted from his horse as his Knights formed a circle around the
prisoners.

“What will you do with us?” Their leader
asked.

“Truthfully, I do not know,” Attos
replied.

“Then you’ve already treated us with more
courtesy than our current employers.”

“Is it that bad?”

“King Altarius is a vain man. He punishes
those who do not agree with everything he says and does. The four
Kings are very corrupt, but not everyone in their kingdoms should
be held accountable. Some of us fight because it is hard to make a
living, others because they’ve accepted the position instead of a
family member going to jail, few choose the path of a soldier for
glory. I doubt that my words will sway you, but if you deal with
Altarius’ soldiers how you have dealt with us, you may be able to
spare a great deal of bloodshed.”

“We are not the ones that will be shedding
great amounts of blood. The elves are the invading force that you
should worry about. Our true leader, who I hope returns soon, has
given us orders to spread chaos in the ranks of both sides. We are
not here to kill, we are here to weaken each side through the
destruction of their supplies and the capturing of their
soldiers.”

“Why would you do this for people that are
not even your countrymen?” The patrol leader asked.

“Our new leader had a change of heart. We
follow his lead because we have much to make up for. The Knights of
Ardevale were once revered by the people. We wish that to be so
once again,” Attos replied.

“Why change now?”

“Our ways may seem strange, but we were
brought up on them. A new leader may only arise if the old leader
is defeated in combat or steps down and selects his replacement.
The leader is to be followed without question, unless you are
willing to fight him in single combat. Over the years, we’ve become
a group ruled by men who would stop at nothing for power. They
identified their biggest rivals and saw to it that accidents befell
them. A young man named Kade changed that when he killed our last
leader.”

“Is there a place where you can offer us
refuge?”

“Ardevale Keep, tell them Attos sent
you.”

“Some of my men may be willing to join you.
As for me, I only request that you allow me to travel the four
kingdoms and tell other men of this new refuge.”

“You may do so with my blessing. I do
believe Kade would be glad to hear that.”

*

Alandra slowed her horse as the monastery
came into view. The monks had begun building a wooden stockade
outside of the stone monastery. She looked to Hadrin, but he merely
shrugged. Even Bertram seemed surprised to see the monks
constructing extra defenses. He rode out ahead of the others to
investigate. His paladins quickened their pace as well, leaving the
two elves alone to contemplate their best course of action. Alandra
knew that Hadrin would likely want to take in the situation as best
he could before discussing what to do next. She watched silently as
he scanned the horizon.

“I’m not certain I trust them,” he said.

“Nor do I, but what choice do we have?” She
asked.

“None that I am aware of. We’ll discuss
later.” Hadrin waved to Cristoph as the monk came riding out to
meet them.

“Builder’s blessings upon you. It is good to
see that you’ve arrived safely. We’ve started on ramping up our
defenses, but we need to pursue more alliances,” the monk said

“What do you have in mind?” Hadrin
asked.

“I would ask that you meet with the
wildlanders and the borderlanders. They’ve both been affected by
this war. We believe that it would be prudent to take a small
contingent of paladins with you to ensure your safety.”

“It seems a decent plan. Will they be
willing to combine forces and leave their homes less
protected?”

“If the threat is as great as we believe it
to be, I think they will agree to fight with us. We will need
scouts to coordinate our forces so that none of us are taken by
surprise. The elven army moves far faster than we ever could have
imagined. I know not how they manage to do so, but we’ve heard news
of their attacks and they appear to be able to travel at least a
week’s distance in a day.”

“Let’s hope that they aren’t able to use
that to pick us apart one at a time.”

The monk nodded before riding back toward
the monastery. Hadrin and Alandra continued at their slow pace,
pretending to take in the surroundings as they rode. She knew
better than to interrupt his thoughts. It was a strange thing, they
had traveled together for such a long time, yet they had not had
much time to themselves. She had hoped she would get to spend time
figuring out who the real Hadrin was, but the world seemed against
the idea. He let out a sigh and his shoulders drooped ever so
slightly. Seeing the opening that she had been hoping for, Alandra
placed a hand on his shoulder. He reached up and squeezed it.

“I know that things have been wild since we
first met, but I am glad to have traveled with you,” the Prince
said.

“As I am glad to have traveled with you. You
have been a true friend,” she said.

“I must confess that I’ve wondered if
perhaps we could be more than just friends.”

“It would delight me to no end, Hadrin.”

“Then all the more reason for us to survive
this madness. I still cannot believe my own father plays a part in
this.”

*

Amber did her best to appear like the
smallest target as possible when she spotted the riders coming
toward them. She despised conflict, but not as much as she despised
those who enjoyed spreading it. Wrotan did the best he could to sit
up tall in his saddle, but his wounds were still pestering him.
Mariah, too, was still injured from the battle with the dragon and
its drakes. Lamont glanced back at his companions. The monk had put
Amber at unease since they had first encountered him. There was
something about the way he was so fascinated with Kade that caused
her to distrust him. Unfortunately, he was her best chance of
surviving the confrontation with the band of riders. Even if they
weren’t set on fighting, Lamont had a silver tongue.

“Halt, in the name of King Gunther of
Levik,” the leader of the band called out as they approached.

“We are merely passing through, my friend,
no need to worry yourself about us,” Lamont replied.

“I can make that decision for myself, thank
you. What I see here is a man that has seen many battles, a woman
who does not shy away from a fight, a pampered dandy, and a young
maiden. You are free to go, dandy. The others, well they will have
to answer to us.”

“It would be rather taxing on me if my
companions were not able to accompany me. Can we not come to some
sort of agreement?”

“If these two are willing to join the
service of King Gunther and the maiden is willing to become one of
the Queen’s servants, then we will escort you along your way
through our kingdom.”

“Don’t you have something better to worry
about?” Wrotan asked.

“The war is the concern of the army. We’re
one of Gunther’s special task forces,” the man replied.

“I’m afraid that I need these two to escort
me all the way to the Arcane Academy. You see, my niece has the
knack for healing and it would be such a waste if she did not get
the proper training. Perhaps a spot of coin will do?” Lamont
asked.