Scourge of the Dragons (4 page)

“Strange. The elves aren’t all that
interesting anyway though. What about the three kingdoms?” Julian
asked.

“This is prime information, let me tell you.
Prince Arlen and Princess Ilsa have run off together to Markurin.
Their parents are furious and have threatened war not just with
Markurin, but with each other as well. Relations between the four
kingdoms are tumultuous at best, but never before have they been
this close to all-out war between all four kingdoms,” Timus
said.

“What about the dwarves?” Amber asked.

“They’ve decided to start an expedition into
the depths of Mount Kargon. It has been more than three hundred
years since they last ventured into those caves. Last time they
did, they were greeted with an attack from wyrms.”

“What are wyrms?” Julian asked.

“Wingless dragons, lad. Dragons fall into
several categories. Night dragons, sun dragons, sea dragons, land
dragons, and lesser dragons. Dragon hunters exterminated almost all
the dragons from human lands and drove out the rest. The elves have
become caretakers for many of the different types.”

“Fascinating, I’ve not heard much other than
tales of old,” Kade said.

“Aye, lad. Wyverns, drakes, wyrms, and the
like are fairly common. The more ancient dragons are less common.
You can find them all in the elven lands though.”

*

Hadrin slowly rose to his feet as he spotted
the figures moving in the darkness. The light from the dying fire
was far too low to make out what he was seeing. Alandra looked up
at him questioningly and he moved over to sit down next to her. She
had taken the final watch before morning and there was little
chance that he would get back to sleep after seeing the moving
shadows. The Prince poked at the fire, hoping that it would emit
more light. His actions only made the Captain give him an even
stranger look.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

“How long have they been on the edge of
camp?” He asked as he motioned toward one of the figures.

“I’m not certain I understand.”

“She can’t see them, my son,” King Obrin
said as he joined the two of them.

“What do you mean, father?”

“Only those with the scourge have reported
seeing the figures on the edge of light and darkness. Similar to
the reports of elves seeing figures in the distance when they are
close to death. They affectionately call it death’s shadow. Many
believe it is those who have passed on before us coming to welcome
us into their number. Truth be told, we haven’t a clue what is
actually being seen nor do we know if the scourge produces the same
effect.”

“Isaack had some ideas about the scourge,”
Wrotan said as he sat up on his bedroll.

“He never shared those insights with me,”
Obrin said.

“It is possible he didn’t want to worry you.
He earnestly believed that whatever separates the living and the
dead is beginning to fail. If he is correct and we cannot combat
the scourge, the results would be catastrophic.”

“They don’t look particularly elven,” Hadrin
said.

“What do they look like?” Alandra asked.

“I would say they look humanoid. The shapes
are ever changing, but some of them look elven and others do not,”
Obrin said, glancing toward his cousin.

“My cousin probably sees them more clearly
than the Prince. The scourge has, after all, taken the most out of
him,” Erlkan said.

“Perhaps the dragons can give us a better
idea of what we are dealing with,” Wrotan said as he slung his pack
over his shoulder.

Hadrin and he others nodded and then began
to gather their own belongings. The sun rose over the mountains
just as they were getting underway. Wrotan took the lead,
cautiously glancing over his shoulder regularly. There was a sense
of accomplishment among the group as they neared the foothills
underneath the mountain range. King Obrin kept his same wary
attitude, which put his son on edge. The Prince glanced up at the
sun before deciding to call the others together before moving
forward.

“I think father should decide on our path
from here on out,” he said.

“My men and I are far better equipped to
make such a decision,” Alandra said.

“I agree with the Prince. King Obrin is the
only one of us who has ever been to the Citadel of the Night, it is
important to know your terrain,” Wrotan said.

“Do we care more about safety or about
reaching our destination faster?” The King asked.

“Speed is crucial, we are being tracked.
Those wolves slowed down our enemies, but not for much longer,”
Wrotan replied as he looked across the plains toward the
forest.

“How long have you known this?” Alandra
asked.

“Since we left camp this morning. I would
have mentioned it, but we were moving at a good enough pace
already.”

“It doesn’t matter now, we need to get
moving. Those elves won’t think to ask questions first,” King Obrin
said.

*

Finrul nodded to Fenzik as he opened the
massive door. Though the sun dragon’s nest was over one thousand
years old, it was still the greatest of its kind. The only
comparable dragon roost was the Citadel of the Night. At one time,
there had been a sister stronghold in the sun realms, but long
since the Citadel of the Sun had been left in ruins. The two mages
cared little for the history between the sun and evening realms.
Like the Empress, they had come from the other elven kingdoms. The
empire had once been four separate kingdoms. In more recent times,
the sun and night elf kingdoms had joined together to fend off the
woodland and sea kingdoms. The fighting had lasted for several
decades before the marriage of Erlkan and Melisandre forged a new
empire out of the ashes of the four kingdoms. Finrul and Fenzik had
jumped at the chance to study the other dragon types under the
Empress.

“They are more restless than usual,” Fenzik
said as he pointed toward the two bronze dragons in the middle of
the nest.

“The elder dragons have always fought for
supremacy, but never have I seen such violence,” Finrul
replied.

The two bronze dragons circled a larger gold
dragon. They circled their prey, looking for an opening. Two silver
dragons lingered on the outskirts of the fight, seemingly waiting
to pounce on an unsuspecting victim. The gold dragon lashed out
with its tail and hit one of the bronze dragons in the face. His
other opponent lunged forward and the two exchanged blows. Their
hardened scales took the brunt of the damage and the two creatures
reared back and eyed one another. They each let out a low roar
before turning away from each other. The two silver dragons snorted
before turning away from the short fight.

“That was not normal,” Finrul said.

“Have you studied the sun dragons long
enough to know if their habits are different from the others?”
Fenzik asked.

“I have, but there are only a few
distinguishable differences. The sun dragons rarely end a fight
without one side dying. They are as dangerous as they are
majestic.”

“Yet they are not considered to be as
dangerous as the night dragons.”

“That is a frightening concept. For now, we
must put it aside. These dragons are acting erratically and
something must be done to fix it.”

“You presume to fix us, elf?” The gold
dragon asked in a booming voice as he landed near the entrance to
the next.

“We are here to offer expertise and our
educated opinions, nothing more,” Fenzik replied.

“Tell the Empress that we do not need any
assistance.”

“You are making a foolish mistake, dragon.
The scourge is pervasive and deadly, you should accept whatever
help you can get.”

*

Obrin held up his hand as he heard a noise
in the distance. He leaned forward, straining to hear better. The
sound of soft crunching echoed off the neighboring hills. Wrotan
drew his sword and leaped in front of the King. A large winged
beast roared as it lunged at the hunter. Alandra and her elves
rushed forward as several more winged beasts landed around them.
Erlkan drew his sword and stood back near Hadrin and Obrin. The
King of the evening realms took a moment to regain his composure
before examining the creatures. There were seven in all. From what
the dragons had told him, the four with six foot wingspans, two
hind legs, and a more snakelike form were wyverns. Two of them were
easily recognizable as drakes with their near ten foot wingspans,
quadruped lizardlike form, razorsharp claws, and teeth like small
daggers. The final beast, what could only be a wyrm, looked like a
massive monitor lizard.

“We are nearly there, these dragonlings
follow their greater brethren,” Obrin said.

“That one almost looks more like a lizard
than a dragon,” Hadrin said as he pointed toward the wyrm.

“There are many types of dragons, my son.
The wyrms most closely resemble the earth dragons.”

Wrotan skewered one of the wyverns with his
spear before retreating back behind Alandra’s shield. The two
worked in unison to take down one of the drakes. He lashed out from
behind the shield, pestering the beast into charging. She shoved
the bottom of her shield into the ground and ducked down behind it.
The large drake charged forward and extended an arm out to smash
the shield. They both rolled out from behind the shield and thrust
their swords into the creature’s chest. It bellowed in pain as it
tried to pull back from the strikes. The hunter pulled out one of
his knives and dug it into the drake’s side. He used it to pull
himself up and grab onto the neck of the creature. His weight was
too much for the beast to hold and it was forced to lower its neck
closer to the ground. Alandra pulled her sword out of the drake’s
chest and thrust it into the dragon’s left eye.

“Regroup and hit them one more time, that
should be enough to force a retreat,” Obrin called out to the
others.

Alandra, Wrotan, and the three remaining
elven soldiers pulled back and regrouped closer to the elven Kings.
The lone surviving wyvern pounced before his companions and was
quickly dispatched by the Captain. She rolled backward just in time
to dodge a tail swing by the wrym. Wrotan moved to his left and
motioned for the others to start to circle around the beast from
the other direction. The creature moved with incredible speed as it
lunged forward. It latched onto one of the elves with its claws and
bit into another with its teeth. The remaining elven warrior rushed
forward to avenge her companions. She managed to score a hit on the
beast’s neck before it batted her away with a front paw. Wrotan
sprinted forward and slid toward Alandra’s shield. He grabbed hold
of the shield and raised it above his head just as the wyrm’s tail
swung around at him. The force of the impact nearly knocked the
shield out of his hand.

Wrotan rolled to the side before standing
up. He fended off the wyrm’s bite attempts using both sword and
shield. The great beast knocked him back with a swift flick of the
paw. Alandra rushed forward to assist, but the wyrm hit her with a
tail swipe. Erlkan let out a battle cry as he rushed toward the
creature. It twisted about to face the elf. The wyrm let out a roar
as it charged toward the elf King. He leaned back and began to
slide as the creature got closer. His slid back behind him and he
dropped to the ground and thrust his sword forward. The beast
attempted to change course but was too slow. Erlkan’s sword tore
into the creature’s neck and slid down to the wyrm’s chest as its
momentum carried it forward. The elf King rolled to the side as the
creature shuddered. It let out one last weak roar before collapsing
to the ground.

“What happened to the other drake?” Hadrin
asked as he counted the bodies.

“I didn’t get a chance to see it,” Wrotan
replied, clutching his bloodied head.

“Could it have run away?” Alandra asked as
she hobbled up to the others.

“It went for reinforcements,” Obrin
replied.

*

The crowd went silent as the performers took
the stage. Kade smiled as he leaned back in his chair. The Drunken
Swine was known for having the best variety entertain of all the
taverns in Reddington. Even Timus seemed to be interested in the
show. A young boy of no more than seven stepped forward on the
stage and pulled a sword. He spun the blade in his hand as he
whipped it back behind his head and around his body. Another
performer pulled his sword and threw it into the air. The boy spun
and caught the second sword. He began juggling the two swords. Kade
chuckled as the crowd called for more swords. The other
entertainers joined in and there were three people juggling four
swords each.

“You don’t see that every day,” Timus
said.

Kade turned to say something to the
storyteller, but stopped when he saw the door swing open. A large
man in gold plate armor with an orange tabard entered the inn.
Several others in the same garb followed behind him. Two of them
stayed at the door while their leader approached the bar and the
others began to spread out through the room. Winston and the
newcomer exchanged words and the innkeeper stormed into the back.
Kade got the attention of the others. They watched in silence as
the man approached the people at the bar and talked to each of
them.

“They look like trouble,” Amber said.

“Just play it cool, there is little chance
they are looking for anyone like us,” Julian said.

The leader of the heavily armored soldiers
made his way to their table. He looked first at Timus. The
storyteller nodded before looking down at the table. Amber did the
best she could at watching the performers and ignoring the man.
Julian stared at him defiantly. Kade kicked his friend under the
table, but it only broke his stare for a moment. The stranger
glanced around the room before taking a seat across from Kade. He
started at the young man for what seemed like an hour. Timus
cleared his throat, but the man took no notice. Julian bumped Kade
in the elbow and motioned toward the front door. Amber looked from
one to the other, trying to figure out what they were going to
do.