Soul of the Sorcerer - Part Three: Daughter of the Dragon (4 page)

Kenelm sighed, with a mix of wonder and sadness “What I would do to spend a few years here interpreting and recording this story! Friend Lloyd, look, that creature there looks like Daemon Lord Hozjoh!”

“Yes, it must be from the time that the Daemen last came and the only Dragon that survived the war was Ingemar.”

“Look over there though!” Bethany said running to a small section of wall across from where Hozjoh stood. She ran and knelt to show them a collection of ten figures, no more than twelve inches high. The first, on the far left, was without a doubt Arden with his battle axe, then ranging from left to right were nine images, some of these were in Dragon Form others human females. Lloyd felt sure that the one on the far right was Edala. Under some of the figures were some crudely carved symbols, looking closely, Lloyd realised that the symbol was a circle with a right angled cross beneath it. Some of the figures had one underneath their feet, others had two or three, and four had none. Sometimes the symbol was repeated again, two or three times, underneath. It reminded Lloyd of an abacus.

“The symbol means female.” Bethany said tracing her finger around one of the larger symbols.

“It’s a tally of his daughters and his daughter’s daughters.” Lloyd agreed sadly.

Behind the companions, against the wall adjacent to the main entrance, they noticed for the first time four makeshift beds and some furniture. Lisa noticed them looking “Since he disclosed to us his secret, revealing his true blessing on many generations of our families, some of us have chosen to stay here and tend our King. He should not suffer in loneliness.” Her face became very reverent towards the end. Lloyd was going to remind her that Ingemar was not a God, but impatience, rather than wisdom, forced him to bite his tongue.

“Take us to him.” he said instead.

Before Lloyd and his companions turned to enter the passage leading away from the reception room, Malin, who had been at the back of the group in quiet reverence, took a step away from them. “If it's okay with you my friends I will remain here. I find it both a little daunting standing before the king and also overwhelming because my sister, Edala’s Mother Larissa, is also in his majestic presence.”

They nodded and followed Lisa into the passage leaving the reception room. They soon continued past a junction with an equally large passage on either side. In the distance, at the end of each, they could just make out other large rooms. Continuing ahead they arrived at a massive set of stairs, massive because each step was nearly two feet high. It took a minute to climb to the top and, although breathless, the companions, including Kenelm this time, all gasped in unison.

This chamber was similar in floor area to the main reception area, but instead of a square ceiling it tapered off like a pyramid. There were no crystal stones in this room however; its means of illumination was far more unusual.  

The pyramid ceiling had a multitude of symmetrically placed cylinders, about a foot in diameter and two feet in length pointing straight towards the floor at right angles. From each cylinder a beam of azure light projected downwards.

Lloyd noticed for the first time that each light lit a stone rectangular plinth. He was reminded of the time a few years ago, before the recent trials of his life began, when his Mum had showed him the morgue at the local hospital. Lloyd felt his stomach tighten as he did indeed realise that on many of these stone beds there rested a dead body. His eyes finally adjusting to the mixture of bright light and pools of darkness, he noticed a simple wooden chair next to a plinth at the end of the room; a small stooped figure sitting upon it. Lloyd took a deep breath and slowly made his way towards the figure.

It was a frail very very old man, with deep set eyes, currently shut tight and bags underneath them that the best plastic surgeon would struggle to fix. Although he looked much older, Lloyd recognised him. “You were the old man that stayed at the inn in Daria when we first stayed there!” It seemed so long ago now that Lloyd could not say if it had been one year or two.

The old man stirred, but he had not been asleep, slowly he lifted his head up, his frail neck straining with the weight, his eyes also began to open and they were a silver mirror reflecting the room around them.

“Arden, is that you?” Lloyd asked warily. Bethany lifted her eyes in exasperation “Are you stupid Lloyd? Who else could it be!” She softened her admonishment with a smile and then approached the frail old man who had made no sign of recognition. “Ingemar, do you remember me? Bethany? We didn’t have much chance to speak, but I am a friend of Edala.”

Still no recognition. The old man's eyes started to close again. SLAP the sound of Kenelm’s hand making contact with the old man's cheeks made the others jump. Lisa gasped, but was quickly held by Allen before she could strike the monk to defend her Lord Ingemar. The old man turned and glared with anger at the monk.

“She was my friend too!” Kenelm said, his voice edged with fury, he raised his arm to slap the old man again, this time Ingemar moved with considerable speed and strength to catch the monk’s arm in mid-flight.

“What do you want?” he said angrily.

“I am trying to find Edala, where has she gone?” Lloyd asked quickly, his hands gently holding monk and old man apart. The mirrored eyes blinked and refocused on Lloyd, the anger quickly receding to be replaced with sadness and resignation. “She has gone back to her old life in Kon; you will find her there with her sisters.”

“Where is Kon?” Lloyd asked trying to remember the details of the map he had seen a long time ago when at sea.

“It’s the capital of the Crescent empire your Highness,” Allen answered before the old man “I know it reasonably well as my father is an ambassador there and I lived with him until coming of age and signing up to serve Prince Hegan.”

“Ooh you never said your family was important!” Bethany said with a cheeky smile while placing her arm through his. Lloyd marvelled at how she always seemed to be able to lift the mood in tense moments, even Kenelm smiled fondly with a resigned shake of his head at the redhead; “Friend Bethany, you are an enigma to me!” The monk eased away from Lloyds restricting hand and smiled kindly at the old man.

“I am sorry old friend; I have no words of consolation for you as my own grief is still too close.”

The old man’s eyes softened and indeed returned to the striking almost violet colour of the giant man form known as Arden.

“Lloyd Brook, you will not be able to follow her there” he said to Lloyd with a grimace. “Why not?” Lloyd replied, frustration creeping back into his voice. It was Kenelm who answered for the tired looking King of the Dragons.

“Because you are a wizard...the Crescent Empire frowned even more on the catastrophes magic had caused. You will not find any wizards there, because the Empire has prevented them from entering not only their major cities, but even the great southern wall that protects their borders.”

“How the hell do they do that?” The incredulous Bethany asked.

“Originally they had wizards, who also believed that magic should be banned, patrolling their borders and towns with their soul vision, these were called the Sworn, as they had taken an unbreakable oath, bound by their magic to serve the empire. However, after a couple of generations these grew fewer in number as very few wizards wished to join them. Mainly, of course, because we have an uncanny ability to forget the past, and those young men with your God given ability, preferred to join the monks and mages, who were gathering with Arren, in the earliest days of Arrenloft. Somehow, the last few wizards managed to create what we now call Ward Stones, these will either emit a loud scream when a mage comes near or in some cases throw up an impenetrable invisible barrier which no mage has been able to cross, whether on foot or by spell.”

“It was I who helped them,” Ingemar said from his chair “I had become aware of the risk to my early daughters from those who knew my secret and the secret of the potency of our blood. It seemed an ideal opportunity to make a place where they could live without fear of being abducted and experimented on by mages.”

“But how has Edala got there then?” Bethany asked, presuming somewhere along the line that she had missed something.

“I guess she just flew there Beth.” Lloyd said casually.

“No, as far as I understand it, there are wards all over the place in the cities; she would still set them off if she was nearby.” Kenelm added.

The old man smiled for the first time that day, although it was still a smile veiled in sadness. “I did say that I helped! When we made the wards I ensured that any with a dragon portal would not cause the wards to function.”

“You mean your silver portal? The one you used to charge my portals when I translocated to Seadawn?”

“Yes Lloyd Brook.”

“I never knew Edala had one?”

“All of my children have them, you may have guessed that Edala’s silver energy originates from hers, she just never realised it.”

Lloyd shook his head as he had not guessed this. Ingemar continued;

“I have never told my children how to open them, as the portal is the means by which the Lord Creator may contact those who have them and that may not be a good thing. But my daughters do not need to have them open to prevent the wards from activating.”

“Do you still speak to the Lord Creator my King?” Lisa asked.

“The Lord Creator has not spoken with me for a long time. Even then it was only in the dream prophecy warning of our Sorcerer here being born” Ingemar finished wearily.

“I know you are tired and full of grief Arden, but I need to find Edala. Please show me your Dragon Portal.” Lloyd asked earnestly.

Arden sighed, but some vestige of the man and father he had been would not begrudge his youngest child at least a slim chance of happiness. His Dragon portal opened, it was not as large as Lloyd remembered and its silver light flickered looking very sorry for itself.

Lloyd turned on his soul vision and opened his own portals “Quadraplanus, Primuspower” he then sent his mind into the Dragon-Man sitting before him. He was a little surprised that even a purebred dragon like Ingemar still had a mixture of red, white and silver blood cells. He remembered when he had saved Edala’s life that it was in the bone marrow that he had found the area where the silver cells had been formed and he focussed and zoomed into this area of the old man.

“What are you doing Lloyd Brook?” he asked.

“Just hold still!” Lloyd said with determination “and Beth, if the power should take a hold of me get Kenelm to knock me out!”

He focussed again on the task in front of him and found where the silver cells were formed and zoomed again into a marrow cell which just released a silver cell before his eyes, he zoomed again, he was now starting to feel the effort involved. Zoom, zoom, zoom. He could see the heart of the cell shimmering with energy, he zoomed and he zoomed, until what had seemed very small was now incredibly large, He gasped at the complex ball of string surrounding his mental vision. He could see that it was constructed of an endless twisting sequence of molecules; he had some vague recollection of a science lesson which talked about DNA and he wondered if this was what it actually was. A tiny portion of the twisting string seemed to be shimmering with a silver energy. “Turn off your portal Arden.” he ordered the old man, who obliged.

Suddenly the shimmering molecules became dark. “And back on!” he ordered and again the old man obliged; the same collection of molecules again became excited with energy.

“Beth open your air portal!” He said with excitement. The redheaded mage obliged and Lloyd quickly transferred his mind from the Dragon’s marrow to the girls. He grinned at how adept he was at this. In Bethany’s marrow cell he found the ball of complex string and the point where the collection of cells had been in the Dragon-Man. Here there was no activity, but a little way along a similar collection of cells jiggled excitedly. “And off Beth!” he asked. He grinned when the molecules calmed.

He then dived into his own body, zoom, zoom, zoom and gasped at the string of material in his own marrow. Here there were four areas jiggling with excitement, one the same as Bethany’s and three corresponding to his air, earth and fire portals. None of these overlapped the area of the string where Arden's molecules had danced with excitement.

He sent his mind crashing deep back into Arden, “Now if I just borrow a bit from you!” he said with a smile as he forced a stream of electrical energy from his air portal to sever the collection of molecules from either end. He then pulled it from the old man’s body like a fish on a line and plunged it deep into his own.

Finally he used a second stream of electrical energy to destroy the molecules already in place and then forced the new piece of string in position before forcing it to bind with another blast of electrical power. It locked tight. He now forced energy into the entire cell causing it to multiply faster, faster and faster. Once he had lost count he again severed the small string of molecules from another cell within Arden.

“What on earth are you doing friend, Lloyd?” Kenelm asked, uncertainty and a little fear showing in his voice.

“He’s trying to give us a Dragon portal” Bethany replied; she too was focused on her own body and studying Lloyd’s mind at work, as it was doing to her what he had done to himself. “See the whole ball Beth that is called a cell, focus some energy gently on it and imagine it splitting and replicating itself into two. Then repeat on those two cells and every cell that is created. We will probably have to repeat the replication over a few days until we get enough to generate a good supply of the silver blood cells.

The old man slumped down into his chair, “If I cared anymore, I should have stopped you, I think you have done something that the Lord Creator will not appreciate!”

“You have changed the nature of your very body, friend Lloyd!” Kenelm whispered in awe.

“Yes, I think so.” Lloyd said, as a matter of fact, with a nonchalant shrug. “I don’t feel any different,” Bethany added “Not yet at least”.

“I never saw it and you never told me about it!” the monk replied to the two mages in earnest “Now let us pay our respects and be gone!” The monk moved closer to the plinth that Lloyd, up until now, had been deliberately paying no attention to.

Kenelm lifted his hand to touch the hand of the person illuminated within the beam of light from the ceiling.

“STOP my friend!” the old man's voice sounded firm for the first time “Do not break the light or you will hurt yourself!”

Lloyd, for the first time turned his attention, slightly unwillingly, to the plinth and the body which lay in rest upon it. He was not prepared for the sadness that hit him like a tsunami. He had been so consumed with his desire to find Edala that he, rather guiltily, had not thought about the sword maiden, his friend, Boadaiska.

His eyes filled with tears as he beheld the wolf clan princess; she was still in her loose fitting leather armour, he realised now that this was because she had been with child in that final battle and indeed even when he had travelled with her to the palace at Seadawn to close the Daemon Portal. Looking at her stomach he could now see the bump of a woman many months along in her pregnancy and he wondered how he had not seen it before. Nearly a foot above the bump was the broken shaft of the crossbow bolt which had penetrated her chest and no doubt one of her lungs. A stream of blood was running from this, tinged with a stain of green. “Daemon venom” Kenelm indicated.