Ultimus Thesaurus: The last Treasure (Era of Change Book 1) (19 page)

The Dwarves were powerless and while they disappeared again into the underground, the dragons conquered the seven heavens. Each heaven awarded to a newly developed generation of dragons, strengthened and blessed by the secrets of the first book. 

There were the red dragons, known for their masterful talent in dealing with the fire and the light of the sun. The yellow dragons, whose impenetrable armour and speed were regarded as unbeatable. And then there were the blue dragons, who were lords of the winds and masters in controlling the air around them. It is said that a single wing beat of their kind could bring upon a swath of destruction.

The green dragons, their wisdom and determination led to the biggest technological developments of their time. The purple dragons, whose gift was the manipulation of thoughts, and finally the black dragons, the so-called kings, bearer of all gifts, and thus in possession of everything I mentioned before. The last heaven, known as the exile, fell to the white dragons, those who possessed none of the gifts of the gods and their children were not considered dragons at all. They were just as cursed as the gods themselves and were therefore outcast.

It is us who slowly developed many thousands of years ago from the children of the dragons and we are also the reason for the disappearance of all these species. The prophecy of the gods said that the white and black dragons are fighting and that only one of them can claim this world as their own. For this reason, the population was held down and every child in the white dragon population was killed at its birth. But many of them were hidden in the underground cities of the dwarves who still wanted revenge for the past. As enough children had been brought to safety, the leader of the white dragons stole the first book and gave it to the dwarves.

He asked them to use the machine again and destroy the dragons once and for all. They ignored the risk that the rest of the world could also forever be destroyed and they triggered another storm. This time so few of the dragons survived that they could no longer fight against the dwarves. This was the beginning of our time and also the beginning of hatred that would grow over many thousands of years. The technologies of the dwarves allowed them to enslave many of the dragons and to keep them in their cities as animals. Only the black dragons were too powerful to be controlled and so they vanished in the shadows under this world which the dwarves once ruled.

And the dwarves felt safe over the years and they had lost their fear which had protected them for such a long time. Without an unlimited life and without the knowledge of the book, it was impossible for them to protect their world forever. Therefore a final war began that would bring upon the end of the dwarven empire. Too proud and blinded by hatred they plunged into the darkness of the earth and lost everything. The last king of the dragons, Lowan brought the kingdom under his control and used the knowledge of the book in order to create new dragons. What he did not know was that the people who were the heirs of the white dragons, had a poison running through their veins that would soon result in the death of his entire kind. The human blood was used to destroy the dragons and allowed us to have the power that they had denied us for so long.

Neither the dwarves nor the dragons could at the end of the war claim this world as their own and a cult who called themselves the born-again founded the Seven Kingdoms. The dragons and the dwarves took the western continent and lived in a continual conflict. And while humanity blossomed everything else began to wither away. Today there is only one living dragon king and he is the reason for my death. 

His name is prince Marko and even if his shape is similar to that of a human, so I can assure you that he is none. His hatred against our kind goes so far that he is ready to destroy this world only to fulfil the prophecy of the gods.

I have brought you here, so that you will receive this message in safety. It was a difficult journey and more is still before you.

The page I sent to you is a part of the first book and I have hidden the rest of it in a place that no one can get to; not even Marko. But now, because it is so far away, we no longer have a choice. This stone should ensure that the knowledge gets to you safely, but its power is now depleted and therefore its benefits have ended. I had believed that Thamyris could recharge it again, but the magic of the king of Atlantis seems to slowly leave this world. All the agony that I forced you through and the trials you faced won’t have been in vain, I promise you that. 

Jacob is a special young man and he will be the key to this fight. Your home, your passion, your faith to achieve greatness and the doubt that the world had in you, are the reason for Marko’s interest in you.

He tried to take everything from me and his anger knew no bounds. I did what I did and I protected my family with all that I had, but in the end my own depravity was too much to bear. This weakness of a human being is the reason why he does no longer see us as dragons. However you have survived and now you will change. Your humanity is everything that will stay and the faith in your heart will protect you. Take the stone and ensure that Lucia is safe. You are the last white dragon, the protector of this world and the only one who can stop Marko.

Even if I regret many things that I have done over the years, I believe, that I have achieved enough for one lifetime. The love to my wife and my daughter, had always given me hope that somewhere out there everything is possible. But this light of hope casts a shadow on the world which could soon drown it in darkness. Many have tried to rise against Marko and neither technology nor magic could stop him. Now the time for a decision has come and I think that you know what is right when the time comes. Mine however has now expired and I feel that as it slowly devours me.

Go back to the place where you have found me and take the ring from my finger. He will give you the knowledge to reveal what the gods gave to the dragons so many years ago. Only Magnus Doyle is able to read it and I know that you will find the solution to everything when you hold the treasure in your hands. I regret that I can’t tell you more, but he is already closing in on us.

Jacob, Lucia I would like to thank you and I ask you that you never forget who you are. Your friendship is the bond that holds this world together.”

But before Jasper could finish his sentence, the door of the temple opened up and the stone in his hand floated away. 

The man from my dreams was standing at the gate and looked at us with his glowing ruby red eyes. He took the stone into his hand and the image of Jasper disappeared. The armour that he wore was coalescent with his body and dark sharp scales covered him from head to toe. He was the last dragon king, prince Marko.

Slowly he entered the room and behind him were hundreds of people with their lowered heads and heavy bodies. Lucia could not quite understand what was going on and it was only at this moment that she realized that this man had taken her father from her again. She grabbed the first item she saw and deemed usable as a weapon and rushed at the prince, but before she reached him, he just showed her the crystal and forced her down on her knees without a single word. Now she also lowered her head and put the item aside, while showing her submission to the prince, who forced the people to enter the temple. Tybalt and his high priests knelt before the prince now, who lowered his hand and stepped forward.

“Finally we meet face to face, Jacob. Your friend was a stubborn companion, but in the end it was he himself, who led me to the treasure that I have been searching for so long now. This girl, Lucia, is a remarkable creature, but her spirit is weak. Nobody in this area, except you is capable of withstanding my control. It is you that I was looking for, the one who rises and who shares my pain,” he said with a dark voice and I saw in his eyes the pupils of a reptile.

“How can you be a dragon? And why did you wait so long, to avenge your kind? I am not any different than all these people out there,” I replied, but the prince did nothing but laugh at me.

“You weren’t born any differently, but you are now no longer a man. There are many creatures and most wear the blood of death. However, your blood mingled with my own and it inflamed not. You are a descendant of the dragons, a lower white dragon. Why I waited so long? You do not have any idea what long means, because your life for me is not more than a breath. I remember the dark world, wars, the storms and the dead. My father was a mighty dragon, the most powerful of all. His gifts were those of the gods, he came so close to their likeness that they themselves considered him as one of their own.

But the outbreak of the second storms surprised us all. Scum like you was killed without a second glance, but many of you hid away deep under the warped surfaces. Your kind waited for its chance and together with the accursed forces you brought us to our knees. I still remember it, when my father sacrificed himself for me and how he left nothing more behind than a bare planet, a place where I did not belong. Alone I could not defeat humanity and the dwarves were still too many so I did what I had to do and disappeared for centuries.

My mind allowed me to adapt and the form that you see in front of you now, is nothing other than the agony of my destiny, deeply intertwined with the old armour that now protects me like an everlasting shield. The time made me what I am and even if my strength waned over the years, there is still no other creature more powerful than I. I rallied the few chosen around me, whose skills and blood was noble and together we waited for our chance.”

“What do you want with this stone? Jasper said that it would be worthless. Its power is consumed and its time is over,” I said and took a step back.

“The power of the Sun King rests in the stone and your friend Thamyris has tasted it. He thinks he is a titan because his wishes and dreams created this story for him, but in truth he is an image of the king himself. This is the final stage of human evolution, the counterpart to me. The capabilities of the Sun King by far exceeded mine and even his intellect revealed things I was never able to see. But in the end I yet vanquished him and now he is nothing more than this stone. Jasper had hoped that your friend would bring the king back into this world and could bring with him his power, but his plan was faulty. Nothing other than this artefact prevented me from entering this island.

Instead of charging the stone Thamyris deprived him of the rest of his energy and he weakened the protection that the king had set for this island. I will show you why he is still of value and you will see that my patience is finally rewarded.”

“If you are so sure, than why don’t you simply kill us?” asked Isaac and stepped in front of me.

“What a naive man. Of course I will kill you all, but why should I deny you a view into the future? I had to see the future before me and why should you suffer less than I did?”

“You have no reason to kill us. Your father has sacrificed himself for you, so there must be something good in you. Not everything in the future is bad,” I said and tried to convince the prince, but without success.

“My father did not voluntarily sacrifice himself for me. He died by my own hand. His betrayal of our people made me stronger and showed me how little he himself knew of the life of a dragon. Through him, I am the prince and his death has shaped my power.

Tybalt and his cult will be the first to join my father in the next world and many will follow. But the knowledge of the old man and the powers of Thamyris are too dangerous to continue to exist.”

He turned away from us and closed the door behind him, while Lucia and the others he controlled remained to guard us.

“What do we do now? The ring, of which he spoke, is located at the bottom of a deep gorge and we are trapped on this island. It was hard enough to come here, so how would we even hope to escape again?” asked Isaac, but I also had no answer to his question.

Much of what was happening here - everything rather - exceeded what I had ever deemed possible. I looked at my hands and asked myself whether I really was not human anymore. Jasper warned me that my humanity would be important, but I had never really felt as one of them.

“There is only one way out of this. If he begins with his ritual and sacrifices the people of the island, we must go in the direction of the beach. It is unlikely that we will make it, but what choice remains to us now? Do you see the faces of these people? 

Lucia has completely lost her mind through a simple movement of his hand. This magic surpasses everything we can muster,” I replied and Aton began to grab his own head.

The pain he felt had to be triggered by the use of the stone and probably was his life energy fading.

“My time is running out, soon my father will take control and with him you will hardly have any other choice than to leave us here. The healing of my father may be important, but I think that it is more important that you survive. These people were unscrupulous, when they had a free will, but now that they have lost it, I am not sure whether we can do more than disband.”

“Never. I can and will not leave you here. If he wants a fight, then he will get it. Aton and the stone are closely connected and if one of the two is destroyed the other loses its value. We should kill him and thus improve our position,” I suggested, but this time Aton understood my words.

He grabbed my arm, and I saw an expression of pain and sorrow in his face, which made me understand that despite all the changes he experienced, all of the illusions that were cast on his mind, he still was human. We all were human and even the prince, in his own pride and his hatred, forgot that he was human too and no longer just a dragon. His body was weakened by the time and his humanity had undeniably shown itself, as he revelled in torturing the innocent.

“I think that I know how we might yet escape from the island,” I said, this time full of certainty, and had a plan that could possibly even work.