Scourge of the Dragons (23 page)

“Finrul still locked in that study?” He
asked.

“Yes, I think he is shocked that he went as
far as he did,” she replied.

“Can you blame him? That is the danger of
allying ourselves with the dragons. They may not always demand our
obedience, but when they do.” Lothrin shivered as he dropped the
thought.

“You didn’t bring me in here just for wine.
That isn’t your reputation.”

“No, you are very attractive, but I am not
looking to wine and dine you as they call it. The wine is merely a
perk of joining me in a conversation about the future of our
kingdoms.”

“You question whether it is wise to stay
with the dragons. I, too, have had these thoughts.”

“How far have you taken them?” The elf King
asked.

“There is always a crossroads. The question
remains, have we already reached it?”

“Indeed. There are two paths that must be
considered. The first, of course, is the path that brings the
dragons to power over the known world. Its counterpart is the path
that weakens them enough to be overthrown. For now, those two paths
are side by side. As long as the dragons are going to war, their
numbers will not swell. That leaves but one question: When do the
paths diverge?”

*

King Padraig nodded as his scouts delivered
their information. Despite their close proximity to Serania, the
fairy kingdom didn’t get many visitors. The King called together
his bodyguards and ordered a welcome committee. They had heard many
rumors coming from the world of men, but it would be good to have
them refuted or confirmed. The King and his troops made their way
toward the forest road and waited for the small group of humans to
arrive. He had one of his diplomats step out onto the path when he
spotted the small group. The man who looked to be their leader put
a hand on the hilt of his sword and motioned for one of the others
to get behind him. He stopped and eyed Padraig’s ambassador.

“Please, we are not looking for a fight,”
Finian, the King’s diplomat said.

“Fair enough. Who is this we that you refer
to?” The man asked.

“The King of the fairies. He wishes to
welcome you to his kingdom.”

“I’ve never heard of such a kingdom.
Nevertheless, we accept your welcome.”

“Excellent,” Padraig said as he exited from
the trees.

“Excuse my ignorance, but aren’t fairies
supposed to be much smaller?” Lamont asked.

“Come, let us answer that question in
luxury.”

The King took the lead as he headed back
toward the fairy capital. He smiled as he heard the others
whispering about the trees. His people lived on what amounted to
another plane. One that was connected to the human’s world, but not
truly a part of it. Transferring between planes had the effect of
shrinking down the traveler. It was something that the fairies were
quite accustomed to, but few humans had ever experienced the
effect. The closer they got to the capital, the smaller they
became. King Padraig beamed as he showed off the magical city of
Caervarrow. The man who looked to be the leader was the only one of
the humans that kept his attention on the people. His companions
gaped as they looked at the buildings made of gold and precious
jewels.

“Welcome to the fair city of Caervarrow,”
the King said as they arrived at the banquet hall at the center of
town.

“How did you manage to build these majestic
buildings?” Lamont asked.

“It is significantly easier to find enough
of these materials when you are as small as we are now.”

“I noticed that we seemed to be shrinking
the closer we got to the town. How does that happen?” Mariah
asked.

“Truthfully, we’ve lost the ability to do
so. Caervarrow is thousands of years old. The leprechauns and
fairies of old were hunted down by all manner of creatures and
peoples. They devised a plan for making it nearly impossible to
find their cities. Caervarrow is our anchor to your world. While
the cities are physically within the boundaries of your realms,
they cannot be disturbed unless you enter through Caervarrow. This
allows us to gather all our forces in one spot to defend against
any intrusion,” the King replied.

“Then your people are not smaller than
humans, not by any significant margin. Does that mean that, much
like the elves and dwarves, we are distantly related?” Wrotan
asked.

“I imagine so, our recent interaction with
the human world have ended badly. We have the histories to fall
back on, but those can only tell us so much. Some of our people
would loathe the connection between our two worlds, but I’ve always
felt that we are far more connected than we realize.”

“The humans are similarly uninformed about
the other races. If not for their recent reappearance in human
lands, many would still believe the dragons to be creatures of
legend. It makes me question what other wonders we have ignored due
to our insular nature.”

“Insular is not so bad, my friend. Ignorant,
that is where many people have gone wrong. Even among the fairies,
we are far more ignorant than we should be. We are a people who
live and thrive on magic, yet we have a hard time believing things
that are more mundane.”

*

Alandra glanced back over her shoulder at
Nicolai and the other paladins. He had been conversing with his
fellows at every chance he had since Hadrin’s actions. Charise did
what she could to limit his influence, but it would only be a
matter of time before the issue would run its course. The elf
wanted to make certain that neither she nor the Prince were on the
wrong side of whatever came of the previous confrontation. Most of
the paladins seemed to ignore their former leader’s pleas, but some
of the younger ones were starting to ride along with the man at a
significant distance from the rest of the group. Alandra slowed her
horse and allowed for Nicolai and his small band of paladins to
catch up to her. Both Charise and Hadrin began to slow their
horses, but she signaled for them to continue at their prior
pace.

“Nicolai, this ends now,” the elf said.

“Was that a threat?” The paladin asked.

“I don’t threaten people, I eliminate them.
This is a chance to either wrest control from Hadrin’s hands or
make peace with your new position.”

“This was not what we asked for when we
joined the monastery. No offense, but we didn’t ask to follow the
orders of an elf.”

“What did you ask for?”

“We asked to be a part of something more.
They promised us that we would follow in the footsteps of those
like Bertram. The man is a living legend. He doesn’t just stamp out
the evils of this world, he helps out those in need. I’ve never met
a truer hero.”

“What would he have said if he had seen how
you approached the wildlanders?” Alandra asked.

“He would not have been happy, but we can’t
just sit at home and not fight. I understand that the elves and the
four kingdoms are the main threat, but the wilders are a vile
people,” Nicolai replied.

“This goes beyond simple hatred of a people
group. Something happened in your past, didn’t it?”

“Those savages killed my father and
kidnapped my mother. We attempted to rescue her, but they
slaughtered our group.”

“Your pain and hatred is understandable, but
killing the wildlanders won’t bring back your parents.”

“But it will stop their raids.”

“Sometimes you must put up with a lesser
evil to get rid of a greater evil.”

“I refuse to believe that.”

“That is your right, but I see no other way
to solve both problems. The dragons are not like anything your
people have faced before. This task will require more than just the
heroics of Bertram. I will speak to Hadrin about reinstating you as
Captain or whatever it was that you were. He will not like the
idea, but I do not think he will be against it,” Alandra said.

“Why do this for me?” Nicolai asked.

“Because your prior actions were not out of
foolishness as I originally assumed. Well, not out of blind
foolishness, that is. You acted out of past experience, that I can
relate to.”

The elf nodded to the paladin before
spurring her horse onward. She hadn’t realized how close they had
come to the city of Reddington. It was unlike any city she had seen
before. The suburbs stretched out for miles around the city proper.
In the event of an attack, thousands upon thousands would be
trapped outside the city walls to fend for themselves. The thought
made her sick to her stomach. Even the rulers of the four kingdoms
had contingencies for their people if an invasion occurred. None of
the people seemed to care that there was a small band of armed
soldiers riding toward their city. Some of them glanced up as the
group passed by, but the majority continued about their business
without a second thought.

“Have we entered Reddington proper?” She
asked as she caught up to Hadrin and Charise.

“No, this is a suburb of the city,” the
paladin replied.

“Surely the town cannot hold all these
people within the walls. Are they not afraid of an invasion?”

“Reddington is not like other towns. They
have a wall and several keeps within the town proper. However, the
townsfolk are far more resilient than the average kingdom. The
borderlands have always been dangerous and her people have adapted
to suit the needs of the lifestyle. An invading army would be wise
to be more wary of the townspeople than of the army. That, I
believe, is where we will be in luck.”

“What do you mean?” Hadrin asked.

“None of the heirs to the throne of
Reddington are old enough to rule. That means that the noble
families are the ones in charge. They each have their own personal
armies, mostly made up of mercenaries. Even though the elves struck
here first, there will still be soldiers willing to join our cause.
Either one of the noble houses will still have an army or a local
militia will be interested,” Charise replied.

*

Finrul sat on the balcony with his head in
his hands. It was one of the few places that he could go to be
alone. He was finding more and more excuses to be alone since his
encounter with the dragon hunters. His actions made him sick to his
stomach. The thought that he could destroy an entire army with such
ease was something that all wizards desired, but the reality of it
was unnerving. He forced himself to stand when he heard a knock at
the door. Queen Ophelia and King Lothrin had been requesting
meetings for a few days now and he could stall them no longer. He
let out a sigh as he made his way to the door. As expected, there
was a lone servant with a small envelope.

“You may tell them I will be with them
shortly,” the mage said.

“They will be pleased to hear this. You can
find them in the meeting chamber off the throne room,” the servant
said.

The sorcerer nodded as he inspected the
envelope. Unlike the others, this one said that it was imperative
that they talk before Obrin’s return. Finrul paused for a moment to
consider what they could mean by it. The keep was significantly
smaller than it looked on the outside. King Altarius had created a
ring around each floor so that he could use archers to tear apart
an invading army. It was an ingenious idea, but the shadow portals
had taken away their ability to prepare such a defense. The meeting
chamber itself was small, but functional. There was a table that
seated up to eight people and a small writing desk off to the side.
Finrul could see how it would be a useful for a King. Ophelia and
Lothrin were already waiting for him at the table when he
arrived.

“We are glad that you could join us today,”
the King said.

“My apologies for turning down so many prior
invitations. I have had much reflection to do this week,” Finrul
said.

“It is a relief that your actions are
causing you some pause. I do not believe that Obrin would feel the
same way,” Queen Ophelia said.

“It is adamant that we do not reveal the
depth of what can be done with his shadow portals. He would not
hesitate to use them on entire cities,” the mage said.

“We are in agreement on that. In fact,
Lothrin and I are considering rebelling against Obrin and his
dragons.”

“A risky maneuver, no doubt. However, I am
not certain that I see any other options,” the King said.

“It is comforting to know that I am not the
only one who is afraid of what the dragons might unleash upon the
world. How would we even go about doing such a thing?” Finrul
asked.

“The key would be striking before they are
too powerful, yet we cannot strike too early as they would turn the
full strength of their force against us.”

“What you are proposing, some will see it as
equivalent to treason. How can we be certain that members of our
own armies won’t turn on us?”

“There are no guarantees, but that is
something we are willing to deal with. We’ve told some of soldiers,
the ones we trust most, to mingle with the night elves and see how
they would feel about such a move,” Ophelia replied.

“Good, I was hoping that the two of you were
as serious as I am on the matter. Let us table the matter for now,
there is no telling when Obrin will arrive to check on us. Each of
us should begin preparations.”

Ungaroth tucked his wings against his body
as he started his dive. The other dragons followed his lead. Their
attack was two pronged, Ungaroth led one frenzy of dragons and
Elbereth led the other. He watched the skies for a sign of the gold
dragon. Her job was to swoop in first and draw the attention of the
castle defenders. A gold streak flashed across the sky followed by
a rainbow of colors. The hybrid night and shadow dragon smiled as
he quickened the speed of his dive. His ears picked up the sounds
of the attack. Elbereth and her frenzy of dragons had unleashed a
small barrage on the south side of the castle. Her group was
significantly larger than the one under his command, but the night
dragons and shadow dragons were the most powerful. Ungaroth let out
a roar as he kicked out his wings. His entire frenzy of dragons
glided in toward the wall. The archers along that side of the wall
turned and stared in awe as the creatures descended. Each of the
dragons flapped their wings at once, sending a gust of wind rushing
at the defenders. The archers were sent flying off the back of the
wall and crashed down onto the streets below.