Scourge of the Dragons (9 page)

*

Erlkan clenched his fist as he looked out at
the approaching squad of elves. He recognized the banner of the
Empress as soon as he spotted it. His hand drifted down to the hilt
of his sword. Wrotan stood next to him, waiting for the sun King to
make a decision. They had already agreed as a group that Erlkan
would make the final decision about how to confront any elves they
came across. The King weighed his options as he drew his sword.
Hadrin and Alandra unsheathed their weapons as well, but Wrotan
simply glanced over at Erlkan. He turned to the hunter and placed a
hand on his shoulder.

“Make sure they arrive at the monastery
alive. I will handle this group,” he said.

“You have my word,” the hunter said.

“Absolutely not, we will stay and fight,”
Alandra said.

“It is his decision, not yours,” Wrotan
said.

Hadrin and Alandra continued to protest as
the hunter lead them both away from the King. Erlkan let out a sigh
as he started marching toward the oncoming squad. He went through
his options in his mind as he covered the distance to his
opponents. There was a small chance that they would be willing to
negotiate, but there was a greater likelihood that they would see
him as an obstacle between themselves and the other three. The
incoming elves slowed down when they recognized the King. Upon
seeing their reaction, Erlkan sheathed his sword and continued
forward.

“Your majesty, we hadn’t expected to find
you here,” one of the soldiers said.

“My wife sent you?” The King asked.

“She asked us to fix any problems that you
were unable to handle. We were under the assumption that the night
elves had captured you.”

“I was captured, but not by the night elves.
The Empress was incorrect about the source of the scourge. Neither
the night elves nor the night dragons are actually to blame.”

“Surely, you understand that we can’t just
take your word for it. What would you have us do?”

“Take me in to face the Empress. Give me a
chance to convince her. That is all I ask for.”

*

“You let us abandon him,” Alandra said.

“I did what he asked. This business with the
scourge is larger than each of us,” Wrotan said.

“What do we do now?” Hadrin asked.

“Same as before, we consult the spirit
monks,” the hunter replied.

“How do we find them?”

“We head through the forest elf realms and
into the wilds. From there, we break north. I may not know the
exact position, but their monastery is somewhere near the edge of
the borderlands.”

“The forest elves may not like us cutting
through their land,” Alandra said.

“Our only other choice is to head into the
sea elf lands and then cut through the sun realms. I’d prefer not
to get too close to the sun realms,” Wrotan said.

“That settles it then,” Hadrin said.

Alandra nodded as she turned toward the
forest. She took one last look toward where they had left Erlkan
and let out a sigh. Her reverence for her aunt had her wanting to
be there when she met with her husband. In her mind, the situation
was a simple misunderstanding. She hoped that things would go well
in her absence. Hadrin placed a hand on her shoulder. The hunter
had already started off toward the forest. Alandra smiled at the
Prince and walked alongside him. There was something calming about
being in his presence. Despite knowing that Wrotan would get
impatient, neither of them felt the need to quicken their pace.

“Erlkan will be fine. In fact, he’ll even
have Empress Melisandre seeing the truth,” Hadrin said.

“Kindness such as yours is hard to find
these days, even amongst the elves. It is truly refreshing,” she
said.

“You have me at a loss for words.”

“I’ll bet you say that to all the elven
maidens back home.”

“They don’t often talk to me when they see
what the scourge has done.” Hadrin pulled off his gauntlet and
showed her the small blue tendrils that had recently spread to the
back of his hand.

“It is quite commendable to see someone
brave enough to accept such a burden so readily. More often than
not, people are unwilling to take on even the smallest of
responsibilities.”

“I’m not sure I ever had much of a choice.
The evening realms would fall apart without someone to replace my
father. A Prince can’t just step down because he doesn’t want to
take on the burdens that come with ruling.”

“You certainly know how to turn a compliment
into a negative situation.”

“He has a hard time taking a compliment, go
easy on him or you might scare him off,” Wrotan said as he turned
back to look at the two of them.

“Have you been eavesdropping on our
conversation?” Alandra asked.

“Not by choice, but I did catch bits and
pieces. My apologies.”

“He has done nothing wrong, leave him be,”
Hadrin said.

“Not that a little flirting between my
traveling companions is any of my business, but the two of you
should cut each other a little slack. I may not know even the
slightest thing about elven politics, but I do know that it
shouldn’t get in the way of two people getting to know each other,”
the hunter said.

“I think you’ve mistaken what has
transpired, my friend. Alandra and I were simply making
conversation.”

“Right, innocent conversation. I’ll remember
that next time it happens.”

“Let’s just talk about something else,”
Alandra said.

“Might be best if we stay quiet. The woods
are home to more than just elves.”

Mariah spotted the elves before any of the
others. They were thinner than she expected, but she surmised that
the elves from different lands each had their own unique look. She
reached out and took the knife from Julian. He was about to protest
when he noticed several elves coming out from behind the trees.
There were ten of them in total. All but one of them, their leader,
had their weapons drawn. Amber and Kade stopped and looked at one
another. Julian started to take a step back before stopping
himself. Mariah looked back over her shoulder, making it seem as
though she were checking on the other two. She counted five more
elves behind them. Their leader stepped forward with his hand on
his sword hilt. He examined the group for a moment before
speaking.

“You best be careful what you do with that
knife,” he said.

“I take it that was a promise and not a
threat. Why so wary?” Mariah asked.

“It isn’t your business.”

“You make it seem as though you just don’t
like the idea of humans in your lands.”

“We haven’t had the best of histories, our
two peoples. I’m sure you already know that. That having been said,
it doesn’t look like you are planning an invasion. I’ll give this
as a warning, the elven lands are in a bit of turmoil right
now.”

“Is there any way we can assist?” Kade asked
as he stepped forward.

“I doubt it. The sun elves and the night
elves look to be gearing for war. That places the forest elves and
the sea elves in the middle of things. Unless one of you is an
extremely powerful wizard or the best diplomat known to the world,
there is little that can be done. Though, your offer will be
remembered,” the leader replied.

“We are looking for a safe place to stay
before moving on. Can you provide that for us?” Mariah asked.

“You can find lodging at one of our outposts
or waystations. We haven’t any real cities, not in the way that you
would think of them. Your best bet for affordable lodging would be
at our trading post, but it is a good half a day’s worth of travel
from here. Continue down the dirt path and you’ll see a crossroads.
There will be signs.”

“That will do, thank you.”

The elf nodded before turning to his troops
and motioning for them to put away their weapons. Mariah and the
others watched as the elves disappeared into the forest. She let
out a sigh as she handed the dagger back to Julian. He nodded as he
took it back from her. All four of them continued on without saying
a word. Unlike before, the silence seemed to come from some sense
of apprehension in the other three. Whether the others knew it or
not, there was little doubt in her mind that the forest elves had
sent at least one scout to follow them. The royal guardswoman
glanced back to see if she could garner anything from their
expressions. They did their best to keep from locking eyes with
her. She stopped and turned toward them.

“What is the matter?” She asked.

“The elves are preparing for war. They are
supposed to be the last ones to fight,” Kade replied.

“Is that really what you’ve been
taught?”

“Yes, the humans were at fault the last time
we fought the elves,” Julian said.

“Absolutely not, the elves attacked us for
reasons that they have yet to reveal. Most of our wars with them
started with an invasion from an elven army. Until recently, they
fought among themselves on a regular basis.”

“If they are so dangerous, why did you bring
us into their lands?” Amber asked.

“I’ve been asking myself that same question
since we entered the forest. The only answer I can think of is that
the elves aren’t the ones chasing us. That and I was hoping we
could help your friend. Unfortunately for us, the forest elves
appear unaffected by whatever it is that your friend has
contracted.”

“It isn’t contagious,” Kade said.

“How do you know?” Mariah asked.

“I don’t, but they do.”

“Who does?”

“The ones that I saw from before. I think
that we are somehow connected. I can sort of sense them out there.
They seem to be getting closer to us.”

Mariah nodded as she dropped the
conversation. She wanted to reprimand him for not telling her
earlier, but she knew that it wouldn’t change anything. The
information was helpful. There was a group out there that knew
something about this strange disease or scourge. Even though her
duty was to the people of Reddington, she felt like this was a
matter of some importance to more than just the elves. The last
thing that anyone in the borderlands needed was a spread of
disease. They were already enough of a target from threats on
nearly all sides. The guardswoman shivered at the last thought. Her
wards were the only reason that the four kingdoms hadn’t invaded.
They had made a treaty with the former King of Reddington and
breaking such a treaty would look bad. If the royal line were
destroyed by a disease, everyone would have their eye on the
borderlands.

*

Erlkan’s spirits fell when the Empress’
palace came into view. He had forgotten how much of the city’s
resources had gone into converting the large castle into an even
larger palace. They were still miles from the entrance to the city
and the only structures he could make out where the palace and the
walls. There was little doubt that the new design would serve well
in a siege, but it still felt too extravagant for his liking. The
one upside that he could take away from the situation was the fact
that his wife had been much younger when she had commissioned the
conversion from castle to palace. Her more recent decrees had been
much more favorable in the eyes of the general populace. He pushed
aside the feelings of regret and tried to focus on how to better
their relationship.

“Your highness, something isn’t right,” one
of the soldiers said.

“What do you mean?” Erlkan asked as he
turned to face her.

“The Empress would never remove her banner
from the palace.”

“You’re certain there is no reason for her
to do so?”

“Absolutely.”

The sun King let out a sigh as he looked
back toward the palace. As the soldier had said, the Empress’
banner was nowhere to be found. Despite whatever grievances
remained between the two of them, the Empress was still his wife
and he didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. No one spoke as
they made their way closer to the palace. Everyone knew to expect
to come to a different sun palace than the one they had last
visited. Erlkan nodded to himself as he quickened his pace. He
would face the situation with his head held high. No matter the
reason for the Empress’ banner being removed, the sun elves would
need a King that was willing to face adversity without wilting
away. The elf King resolved to be that which his people needed
most.

“There, someone approaches,” the elven
Captain said as he pointed to Erlkan’s side.

“I’ll need a sword,” he replied as he looked
over at the approaching group.

“Sorry, your highness, the Empress
instructed us against that.”

“Whether bandits or the Empress’ own troops,
I will address them with a sword in hand. This is not a
negotiation, Captain. You have my word that I will not use it
against one of our own, but I need to show my strength if we are to
unite together and defeat the scourge once and for all.”

Erlkan waited for a moment, wondering if his
gamble would pay off. The Captain shook his head as he unhooked his
scabbard. He handed it to the King before turning to get spare from
his equipment. The sun King drew the sword as he marched toward the
oncoming troops. He could now see that they were elves, but whether
they were hostile or not remained to be determined. The group of
elves slowed to a stop when they spotted the King with his sword
drawn. Two of their members began to talk before heading toward
Erlkan.

“Your majesty, there is no need for
violence,” one of them called out as soon as he was close enough
for the King to hear.

“What is your purpose?” Erlkan asked.

“We came to warn you and to ask for your
assistance.”

“Warn me about what?”

“The dragons have turned on us and the
Empress has been taken captive. There is a wizard that claims the
throne.”

*

Melisandre paced back and forth inside of
her cell. She let out a sigh as she dropped to the floor. By her
estimation, more than a week had passed already. Whether by design
or not, the mage had ignored his own ultimatum. Her food rations
had been decreased to one meal a day. All signs pointed toward this
new ruler trying to break her spirit. Despite his insistence on
being able to make do without her, she suspected that her
assistance would make things easier for him. It was rare times like
this that she wondered if things would have been the same had she
tried to reason with her husband. There was no doubt in her mind
that he was an unreasonable man, but she also felt that there were
times when she could have asserted herself more.