The Chronicles of Dragon Collection (Series 1 Omnibus, Books 1-10) (143 page)

CHAPTER 32

Late after nightfall five days later, traversing harsh elements and avoiding prowling enemies, Nath and company arrived a league southwest of Quintuklen. They had moved day and night, taking little time to sleep, which only Ben seemed to need. His friend slept in the cart half the time while Brenwar and Nath took their turns pulling it.

“I can see it,” Nath said, peering skyward.

“See what?” asked Pilpin.

“The Floating City.”

It hung like a small moon east of Quintuklen, mostly hidden by a strange mist. He could see the jaxite that ebbed with glowing light beneath it. Dragons darted swiftly through its cloud.

Nath’s strange feeling only got stronger. “I can feel him.”

“Him who?” Brenwar said, glancing at the sky.

“Him.”

“Aye, I suppose you do.”

Nath looked at Brenwar.

Brenwar added, “Being a dragon and all.” He set the cart handles down and used his glass to spy the small farm they approached. He readied his axe. “We’ll go take a look.”

Nath started to object, but Brenwar and Pilpin were too quick to scurry away.

“Great.”

He leaned against the cart. Ben lay in the hay, snoring softly. Nath closed his eyes and stretched out his senses. He didn’t sense evil or danger. That ability had come in handy as they traveled, alerting them to take cover whenever dark forces approached. It took everything Nath had to hold his powers back. He was eager to unleash them, test them out. It was torture.

What else can I do? I need every edge I can get.

Almost an hour later, he noticed Ben beginning to stir.

“Dragon,” Ben said, sitting up in the hay and rubbing his blurry eyes. “Have we arrived?”

“They’re checking it out.”

Ben slid out of the cart and buckled on his sword. He stretched his arms and yawned. “I wish I didn’t get tired, like you.”

“Oh, I get tired. I just sleep for years when I do,” Nath said, laughing. “Come on, let’s catch up with the others. There’s no danger out there waiting.”

Together they wheeled the cart toward the farm until they found Pilpin standing outside the barn, waiting.

“I suppose they’re inside?”

Pilpin nodded. “Waiting on you. Ben, they want you to stand guard with me.”

“I’d rather—”

“I’m sure it’s for the best,” Nath said, patting Ben’s shoulder.

He proceeded inside the barn door, and Pilpin pulled it shut behind him. The ramshackle barn was typical, with stables and a loft. Brenwar sat at a large table lit by a lantern in the middle. Three other figures sat there as well, with hoods pulled over their heads. That strange feeling returned and knotted his stomach. He stopped at the edge of the table.

“Is there a need for secrecy?”

Two of the three cloaked figures that sat across from Brenwar dropped their hoods. It was Shum and Hoven. He almost didn’t recognize them. Their faces had been burned by fire and scarred by battle.

“Apologies,” Shum said, “we aimed to spare you displeasure.”

“Never say such a thing, my friend. I see only beauty, inside and out. But I hurt from all your suffering on my account.”

“It is our honor to serve,” Hoven said, adding a smile. “And these marks fill me with honor.”

Nath nodded and fixed his eyes on the person at the end of the table. “Are you scarred as well, my friend Bayzog?”

“Nay,” Bayzog said, dropping his hood. Tears were in his eyes. He wiped his sleeve on his cheek. “It is my shame that I hide, for I have failed.”

“What happened? Where is Sasha? Where are your sons?”

Bayzog rolled a crystal orb down the table. It hopped over the lantern and hovered above.

“It was here when I arrived, two days ago.”

It grew and brightened in swirls and colors until a clear image formed. Bayzog’s face emerged. He was inside an iron cage. His voice was pleading, “He has us. He has us all.”

The image panned backward, revealing the disheveled Sasha, Rerry, and Samaz in small separate cages. Sasha’s fingers were stretched through the bars toward her sons and theirs toward hers, but they could not touch.

Nath’s heart ignited. “We have to save them!”

The image altered, and Gorn Grattack’s terrifying countenance appeared. “I want Nath Dragon’s sword, Fang, or all of them die! You have one week.” The image vanished.

“Gorlee!” Nath said, pushing his hair back. “That was him, not you!”

Bayzog nodded. “Gorlee went there on his own in hopes of discovering more about the enemy by the time you awoke. That was years ago. This is the first I’ve seen him.” Bayzog sighed. “My family was separated from me, but only recently did I lose track of them. When I saw this, my horrors were confirmed.”

“We’ll save them, Bayzog.” Nath said. “We’re here, and we’ll go and save them today.”

Bayzog shook his head no. “We are not ready to rush into this. Too much is at risk.”

“They’ll die.”

“Perhaps, but they know the risks. We all do. So much is at stake. They’ll understand.”

“You’ll see them alive again,” Nath said. “I swear it.”

“Nath, heroes and dragons have tried to get in, and none of them have survived. Not one. The Floating City is impenetrable.”

Nath rapped his knuckles on the table and stood. “I’ve been inside it.”

Brenwar scowled at Nath.

Bayzog said, “Our kinds are working on something so we can go with you. It’s unknown if it’s ready yet, but we can check.”

“And why did he ask for my sword and not me?”

“I’d say your confrontation is inevitable, but I don’t follow why he would need Fang. It’s an odd request,” Bayzog said.

A thought struck Nath. “Perhaps it is the only blade that can kill him. I battled him once before, lanced him through the heart. He only laughed.”

“He might not have a heart as we understand it,” Bayzog said.

“Makes sense,” Brenwar added, shrugging his shoulders. “Or maybe he needs it to kill you.”

Nath leaned over the table. “Regardless, we have to give it to him.”

“Nath, that’s too dangerous,” Bayzog said.

“Your family is at risk, and time is short. I’ve made my decision. Where is it?”

The creaking barn doors opened and Pilpin burst through. “I tried to stop them, but eh,” he glanced back over his shoulder as two ominous figures entered the barn. The hulking winged figure of Sansla Libor emerged, and beside him stood Selene.

CHAPTER 33

Wielding his war hammer, Brenwar rushed between Nath and Selene.

Shum and Hoven stood ready on either side of him.

“The dead rise against us!” Brenwar said. “Stay back, Nath!”

Selene let out a soft chuckle, opened her palms, and took a knee. “I assure you I am not dead, Brenwar Bolderguild. And I’m not here to fight against you, either.” She rose back up, eyeing Nath. “I come to join you.”

Selene had changed. The hard lines on her face had softened. The black scales that had dressed her body were now lavender mixed with white. Her presence was soothing, almost radiant. And beautiful.

Nath’s heart pumped hard inside his chest. He sensed that hers rang as true as there had ever been.

Behind Selene, Sansla Libor let out a grunt.

Shum and Hoven sheathed their swords and backed away.

Nath folded his arms over his chest. “You have much to explain.”

“It would be my pleasure.” She grabbed the necklace around her neck and pulled it out from underneath her white robes, revealing a brilliant white amulet that illuminated the room.

Everyone shielded their eyes but Selene and Nath.

“The Ocular of Orray!” he said in amazement.

“I died,” she said, “but Sansla, Laedorn, and the elves redeemed me.”

Nath stepped closer. His eyes slid from hers to the amulet. “Why would they?”

“To help you, I believe.” She forced a smile. “The Ocular sustains me so long as it is in my possession. It’s temporary.”

Nath looked solemnly into her eyes. “You’ll die without it?”

“It’s uncertain, but most likely.” Selene tucked the Ocular back inside her robes. “That’s why I need to teach you all that I can in the little time we have left together.”

Nath reached out and held her face between his hands. She was warm and more real than she had ever been before. He felt the light within her. “Bayzog, did you know about this?” he said over his shoulder.

“I knew they had her. I did not know she was revived. It’s a wondrous thing that the elves would use the Ocular on Selene. A good sign, I believe.”

“A great sign.” He studied Selene’s eyes. “I’m glad you have returned, and I hope it’s not temporary.”

She squeezed his hand. “So do I.”

“Are there any other surprises?”

“Dragon!” Ben said, bursting inside. “Dragon! Come quick!”

Nath rushed outside the barn.

Dragons in flocks like birds were landing in the fields. Their bright eyes and colorful scales twinkled in the moonlight.

“Your army comes,” Selene said in his ear. “Are you ready to lead them?”

***

“Can you feel that?” Selene said to Nath. “What is she thinking?”

It was still nighttime. Nath stood facing a golden flare dragon. She had long lashes over her pretty eyes, and he could feel her heart beating under his fingertips.

“She thinks I’m handsome,” he said, showing a broad grin.

Selene rolled her eyes. “Uh-huh, and what else?”

“She’s ready to fight. Eager.”

“Tell her to do something. Bend her will.”

Nath didn’t like the sound of that. “I’d rather ask.”

Selene folded her arms across her chest. “A general doesn’t ask his soldiers to fight in the war. He’s a commander. He gives orders.”

“True, and they follow a commander they respect even better.”

“You’re proven, Nath. They wouldn’t be here if you weren’t.”

“Fine.” He cleared his throat and spoke in Dragonese. “Golden flare, trip Selene.”

The dragon’s tail whipped out, making the sound of a cracking whip.

Wupash!

Selene was upended and crashed onto the ground.

Nath nodded in satisfaction. “I think I have it. What other lessons will you teach me now?”

Selene walked him through the steps of changing form. As a man, he grew a tail and wings. He added horns even.

“Fascinating.”

She taught him to blow different kinds of smoke, acid, fire, and even ice. He froze trees and shattered them with ease.

“Summon enough power, and your roar alone can split rock and splinter trees,” she said. “But your power is limited. You control great magic and can do many things; just don’t overdo it.” Her face darkened. “Our enemy is ancient, Nath. He’ll tempt you to burn up your powers until you weaken, and then, like a monstrous asp, he’ll strike you in the neck, burrow inside your body, and poison the heart within.” Her expression became distant. “That’s what he did to me.”

Nath nodded.

“You surprised him once before,” she said. “He won’t be caught off guard a second time.”

“Could I have killed him then? When I had him?”

“His body maybe, but not his spirit. It takes a special weapon to sever the spirit from the body. That’s what Barnabus did.”

Nath remembered the legends of the man Barnabus that Bayzog had shown him long ago. Barnabus had wielded a great sword that lanced and banished Gorn after the last Dragon War. Barnabus’s heroics had been twisted ever since and turned against the good.

“Do you know what happened to Barnabus and that sword?” Nath asked of Selene.

She chuckled. “Do you not yet know who Barnabus is?”

“No, should I?”

“Yes, you should. Barnabus is your father.”

Nath’s limbs went numb. “What?” Inside, it all felt true, and then he realized there had been a time when his father was a man, too.

Selene puckered her brows.

So did Nath. “But the sword, Fang, he made for me. Fang can’t be the same sword that he used before. Is he?”

“I don’t think the last sword did the trick, and I believe your father forged another. I’ve heard it told that the other blade snapped the last time he used it. It vanquished the dragon warlord, but not entirely.”

“So that’s why he wants Fang?”

“That blade in the right hands can destroy both body and spirit,” she said. “He fears it.”

“All this time, I had the key in my claws,” he said, eyeing Selene. “And you knew it.”

“I suspected.”

“Why didn’t you try to take Fang, way back when?”

Selene gazed up at the Floating City. “He wanted me to turn your will. With you on his side, the blade’s power would have been useless. He took a calculated risk, I failed at my task, and now he just needs the blade.” She turned her gaze back to him. “Sorry, Nath.”

“I guess I’ll have to forgive you,” he said, holding her gaze, “but I have one other question. Where is Fang?”