Scourge of the Dragons (6 page)

“Ah, Wrotan, you do your adoptive father
justice. He taught you well. We shall start with Alandra, niece of
the Queen that wants many of us dead,” the dragon said.

“I understand why you would see me as an
enemy, but the truth is that I do not agree with Melisandre. Her
assumptions make no sense. Why would you or King Obrin unleash a
scourge upon yourselves? It may affect others worse than you, but
it still affects you,” Alandra said.

“A solid point. To answer your question,
Queen Melisandre believes that because I am not affected by the
scourge, I am its originator. Nevertheless, why would I infect my
entire clan? Are not dragons a more powerful ally than this
scourge? You seem to agree, no need for an answer to that question.
Now, Erlkan, why should we trust you?” Ungaroth asked.

“My wife tried to have me killed because I
wanted to give my cousin and his son more time. I may not have been
an ally before, but she had forced my hand. My desire was to stay
neutral, but I cannot do that now,” the sun King answered.

“Quite true, which leaves us with Prince
Hadrin. Can you explain why you aren’t a danger to us or even
yourself for that matter?” The dragon asked as it turned to the
Prince.

“I’m not sure I understand. The scourge runs
through my blood as well. We are all on the same side. Even if I
did mean you harm, I’m not even close to being an expert
swordsman,” Hadrin replied.

“Have you not told him?” Ungaroth asked as
he turned to the night elf King.

“I have not, there was never a time when I
felt comfortable revealing the truth,” Obrin replied.

“Then we must all go to the inner tower at
once. There is much that needs to be discussed.”

*

Kade groaned as he came to. His head
throbbed as he tried to gather his bearings. They had tied him to a
stake in the middle of a tent. There was nothing else inside the
tent, but there were two guards just outside. He tried to wriggle
free, but his bonds were too tight. His mind was still in a fog,
but things were starting to slowly come back to him. He remembered
what happened in the tavern, but nothing after that. His thoughts
were interrupted by the sound of men entering the tent. He
recognized the man that had kidnapped him, but the other man was
unknown to him. They whispered to one another before coming closer
and untying the rope. The thought of escape hovered in the back of
Kade’s mind as he looked up at the two men.

“Time for some answers, boy. You’ll want to
make it easy on yourself now,” the leader said.

“What do you want to know?” Kade asked.

“Let’s start with a name. What do I call
you?” The other man asked.

“Kade.”

“I am Ansom, this is Knight-Commander
Goraine. We can make things much easier on you if you answer our
questions.”

“You didn’t need to tell him our names,” the
Knight-Commander said.

“I have my ways, Goraine. Now, tell me what
you know of this scourge.”

“I know nothing about it. One day the back
of my hand was clear, the next there was a small black mark. That
was about a month ago. In that time, the mark has grown a bit,”
Kade said.

“You expect us to believe you know nothing
about it? We are not fools. Who is responsible?” Ansom asked.

“Nobody is responsible, it just
happened.”

“Things like this do not just happen, boy.
Perhaps we should apply pain.”

*

Mariah handed a knife to each of her
companions before drawing her sword. Julian opened his mouth to
protest, but she had already moved on. The Knights of Ardevale had
made camp in a small meadow in the midst of the forest. By the
sound of it, they had begun torturing the young man they had
captured. This had the guardswoman’s blood boiling. There were few
things she hated as much as torture. She motioned for the other two
to follow as she ducked down behind some bushes. They made their
way to the edge of the bush before making their move. Mariah
vaulted over the bush and shouldered the nearest Knight. Julian and
Amber followed behind and attacked the other sentry. Amber froze
when she had the chance to kill the man, but Julian had no such
hesitation.

The other Knights began to stir. Mariah slew
two of them before they could even stand. Julian knocked a third
into the fire, but the other four got to their feet before they
could be attacked. Goraine and Ansom came out of the tent with Kade
in tow. The Knight-Commander barked to the torturer to take Kade
while he went after the others. Mariah managed to hold off two of
the Knights and Julian held off another. The fourth Knight grabbed
hold of Amber and dragged her toward where the torturer had gone.
Goraine joined the fight and Mariah was forced to defend Julian.
The youngster threw his knife, taking one of the Knights in the
shoulder. He ducked back behind the guardswoman and looked for
another weapon. She held off the others, but Goraine called for a
retreat. Julian started to give chase, but Mariah grabbed him by
the shoulder.

“We cannot chase them,” she said.

“Why not?” He asked.

“They will likely try to set a trap for us.
We need to move forward with caution and avoid any traps they may
set. There is still a chance we can reach them before they get to
their stronghold.”

“How can we have failed so easily?”

“We did not fail. They’ve only five soldiers
left. Another surprise attack and your friends are as good as
free.”

*

Melisandre fumed as she watched her former
subjects setting up the strange device in her former throne room.
The dragons were ordering them about and she had only caught a
small portion of their orders. She knew that the device was somehow
related to the dragon’s new master, but she had no idea what the
device was. There was a part of her that desperately wanted to try
to disrupt their task, but she knew she would be better served
looking for an escape route. Her former subjects placed the last
piece together and the device began to hum. A small opening was
created above the device. The opening began to grow and Melisandre
could make out a figure on the other side. A cloaked man stepped
through the opening. He disengaged the device before looking around
the room.

“Home at last,” he said as he sat down on
the throne.

“My master, it is good that you are here.
This is the former Queen and her subjects,” the gold dragon
said.

“Excellent, I like efficiency in my
servants.”

The man walked over to the Queen. He stopped
and began to examine each of them one by one. There was something
about him that felt off. He looked like a human, but also like an
elf. His long black hair had small patches of gray at the temples.
He had a stern face that looked like a strange combination of a
human and an elf. Yet none of that unnerved her as much as his
eyes. One purple eye and one gray eye. She shivered and forced
herself to look away. Her reaction brought a chuckle from the
strange man. He sighed before turning back to his throne.

“You have no idea who I am, do you?” He
asked.

“There is something unnatural about you,”
She replied.

“Yes, my mother was a human enchantress and
my father was an elven sorcerer. Two types of magic run through my
veins just as the two bloods run through my veins.”

“Your kind is forbidden.”

“That is why I was away for so long. You
elves have so many dirty secrets. Yet the humans seem to scheme so
much more. It is hard to say which I am more ashamed of. No matter,
my identity no longer rests with the elves or the humans.”

“What do you want with me?” Melisandre
asked.

“A simple answer for a simple question. Your
loyalty or your death. It matters no which you choose,” he
replied.

“You’ll need my army, of course. The dragons
are powerful, but they cannot invade other kingdoms.”

“My army will be here soon. Once they’ve
arrived, I think your army will prefer to join us. You see, I could
crush you like a bug. I will give you a week to decide. In the
meantime, enjoy your old dungeon.”

Hadrin trudged along behind the others. He
felt a mixture of curiosity and betrayal. His father had kept
something important from him. Yes, it was for his own good, but he
was no child, not anymore. The others knew better than to tell him
to hurry up, though he was surprised that Ungaroth cared.
Everything he had been taught about the night dragons made him
believe they were always out for themselves. He let out a sigh as
he looked at the room. There were no decorations and little else.
The dragons had taken up the three spots at the end of the room.
His companions were taking the seats at the table facing the
dragons. He slid into his seat and stared down at the table. Obrin
cleared his throat before standing.

“I should be the one to go first. How far
back should I go?” He asked as he turned to Ungaroth.

“For now, just the basics. The rest can come
later,” the dragon replied.

“This applies to Wrotan in some ways as
well. Hadrin is one of the only of his kind. I do not know the
specifics of the timeline, but hundreds of years ago a young elf
maiden fell for a human. What she did not know at that time was
that this man was a wizard. For those of you who do not know, such
a union is forbidden among the elves. The offspring produced from
such a pairing are reported to never die of old age. Whether true
or not, we do know that they outlive elves. This tends to cause
problems when they outlive their elven brethren. Many of their
number have gone mad. As such, they are banned from our society. I
will not comment on whether this is right or wrong. That is not why
we are here.”

“What does that have to do with either of
us?” Hadrin asked.

“I am getting there, my son. This particular
pairing resulted in two children before the parents were jailed and
later executed. The two children managed to stay hidden from the
elven authorities. I fell in love with the daughter over three
hundred years ago. At first, we agree that having children would be
a bad idea. Your mother’s health began to deteriorate. We never
knew why, but it was obvious that she would not live longer than
the elves she lived among. This was when she revealed to me that
she wanted a child. I could not refuse her. Hadrin was born some
years after that. She was so delighted to have son. I miss her
greatly. That is not the point, though. You see, my son, you are
part human and, more importantly, you have a propensity for magic,”
Tears rolled down Obrin’s cheeks as he spoke.

“Where does that leave us and what does that
have to do with Wrotan?” Alandra asked.

“Isaack was her brother. That is why he
spoke so favorably of you. I always thought he was growing weak due
to age,” Wrotan said.

“There was much that Isaack did not tell any
of you. He sought out the spirit monks and their paladin brethren.
I have spoken with my kin and we believe that you should follow in
his footsteps. As to why he grew weak, we can only assume that he
and his sister had a powerful enemy,” Ungaroth said.

“What does this mean for me?” Hadrin
asked.

“You are born of magic, dragons are born of
magic. When you take your father’s place as King of the evening
realms and steward of the dragons, you will become one of the most
powerful individuals in the world. It is your birthright. We will
teach you the ways of magic.”

“Is it wise for one man to possess such
power?”

“That is where Wrotan comes in. His adoptive
father held another position. Your father is the steward of the
night dragons, but Isaack was our champion. That position is open
for Wrotan, should he desire to accept it. His role will be to keep
you in check, but only if you go against our wishes. As long as
your actions align with our wishes, he will be your protector. The
two of you will need to think on these things for you will need to
make these choices in the future.”

“It would be an honor to be the champion of
the night dragons,” Wrotan said.

“Before you accept the title, there are two
things you must know. Your life will be connected to ours. As long
as the dragons live, you will never succumb to old age or natural
causes. There is, however, a downside. The scourge will spread to
you as well, until we find a way to destroy it once and for
all.”

*

Kade struggled to take in his surroundings.
His left eye was swollen shut and his right eye throbbed. He knew
he wasn’t alone, but the other figure was far too blurry to make
out. There was a part of him that wanted to reach out to this other
person, but another part of him felt that it could be a trick. He
decided to let his fellow captive decide whether or not to engage
in conversation. His fear was too great to allow him to talk to his
fellow prisoner. Ansom had shown a rather ruthless streak and Kade
didn’t want this to be another of his tricks. A feeling of despair
flooded over him as he heard voices in the distance.

“Did you set a watch?” Goraine asked.

“Yes, just as I did the first time. That
didn’t stop them then and it won’t stop them now. We don’t have
time for easing into things this time. He will break tonight,”
Ansom replied.

“Already awake it seems. Let’s see if we
can’t loosen that jaw.” Kade flinched as he heard the man talk.

“I had an entirely different idea,
Goraine.”

“Let’s hear it. You weren’t appointed to
your job for nothing.”

“We inflicted a great deal of pain on the
boy yesterday and he still remained silent.”

“You think we should try to get the
information out of her?” The Knight of Ardevale asked.

“Not exactly. We threaten to harm her if he
doesn’t give the information we are looking for.”

“Sadistically ingenious, as always. Cut her
loose and bring her to me.”