Vegenrage: Dragon Reclaim (2 page)

“We need to get back to them and make our way to Erkensharie. The elves may still be in need of our help. Logantrance, we must go now.”

“I understand, Trybill. Go to them, and we will meet you in Erkensharie.”

“Wait. Before you go, there is something here. Something that belongs with you.”

“What is it, Vegenrage?”

“Come, I will show you.”

Vegenrage, followed by the Dagi, walks to the bed made out of sapphire and emerald. The others watch to see what Vegenrage is going to do. The bed that forms is very beautiful. It is very smooth and solid. You would think there is five hundred pounds of jewel in it. The indent on top where Vegenrage is placed actually looks very comfortable. The bed seems to have been formed in layers—one layer of sapphire and one layer of emerald and so on throughout. He puts his hands on the bed and concentrates. It starts to move and form like it is melting. The layers of sapphire move to one another, as do the layers of emerald. The bed begins to shrink. The jewels are condensing and shrinking until, unbelievably, the Octagemerwell and the Sapphirewell have returned to the natural wonder that they were created as. Vegenrage hands the Sapphirewell to Blythgrin.

“I believe this is something you will be needing. Do not stop exploring the magical wealth of this. This will give you the protection you may need if you run into dragons or that bastard Cloakenstrike.”

“Unbelievable. I don’t know how you did that, but thank you, Vegenrage.” Blythgrin accepts the Sapphirewell and rubs it with his hands, concentrating. “It is complete with all its power.” Blythgrin puts it in his Bag of Holding.

“Logantrance, we must get back to Glimtron and the others. They may need our help.”

“I understand, Blythgrin.”

“Oriapow, we will be seeing you soon in the Erkensharie, and we can talk more. I am glad to see you unharmed after so long a time, old friend.”

“You as well, Blythgrin.”

“We will meet with the others and head to Erkensharie. We will see you there.” Blythgrin and the Dagi head through a Dimension Door and are gone.

“Oriapow, I believe this is something you may want to take care of.” Vegenrage hands the Octagemerwell to Oriapow. His skin deepens in color, and the wrinkles in his face visibly begin to smooth out. He smiles as the green glow reflects in his eyes. “I have no words, only gratitude, for having this back and soon to be returned to its rightful place in Erkensharie.”

“There is no time for you to waste. Go to your people and return the Octagemerwell. For right now, I need to figure out what to do about my own home,” Vegenrage says.

“Will you all be coming to Erkensharie soon? I have something very important to show you. It concerns you very much, Vegenrage.”

“I will, but I need some time to arrange and organize things here.”

“Okay, I must be going. It was a pleasure to meet you, Farrah, and Logantrance, I look forward to seeing you and talking about old times.”

“I look forward to it as well.” Oriapow walks through a Dimension Door of his own and is gone.

“Logantrance, what has happened here? How were the dragons able to do this? Has this happened to your home as well? What should we do? Should we rebuild or move?” Vegenrage asks.

“I have many secrets at my home, which the dragons, I hope, have not discovered. I must return and see what has happened there. I have not been back in a while, but if the dragons seek to destroy us, they surely have tried to set traps for me there. My home is my home and has been for a very long time. They will not drive me from there. You, on the other hand, have not been here that long. The decision is yours whether you stay here or move.”

“Hey, this is my home too. Even though it has been only for a short while, it is all I have along with you, Vegenrage,” Farrah says. Vegenrage smiles at Farrah.

“Well, there is nothing here except rebuilding, and we can do that anytime. What do you say we help Logantrance see what is going on with Richterblen?” Vegenrage asks.

“Sounds good to me.”

“Then, Logantrance, let’s go see what is going on at your place.”

“Slow down, Vegenrage. You are always so quick to jump into the action. We must plan and take this seriously. If the dragons have set a trap for us there, then we must be prepared. They have found all the secrets, by now, that they are going to find there. I think we should meet with the others at Erkensharie and see if they need our help. Are you sure there is nothing more for you to do here?”

Vegenrage looks around. His home has all been erased. All that is left are the metal floor and the pit in the center of the room where the
Wogenkeld
was made. He walks up to the pit and looks in. He holds his hands on it and concentrates. “The dragons were very thorough. They have absorbed everything that was here. There is nothing left, except what you see. I do have some questions now that I think about it. Behaggen, how was Cloakenstrike able to vanish when I tried to take the Bag of Holding from him?”

Behaggen wakes up to answer. “That Cloakenstrike. He is one seriously good magic user. The bag he carries with him is Getcher, and he is my fifth offspring. Getcher is very destructive in nature, so naturally, he was drawn to Cloakenstrike. Getcher has been magically tied to Cloakenstrike. If anyone or anything should try to remove Getcher from Cloakenstrike, then he is automatically transported to a safe place no one knows about. Quite genius actually. On that same note, if Cloakenstrike were to be killed and someone tries to remove Getcher, then he will teleport Cloakenstrike to that same place, and Cloakenstrike will be reborn. Again, this Cloakenstrike is one tough magic user and well fortified because Getcher has the most powerful holdings of all the Bags of Holding, including myself.”

“Well, what about the bag that Logantrance carries?”

“That is Quintis, and he is my ninth offspring. He is a very quiet type. He spends all his time asleep, and that is the way he likes it. He is very well suited for the calm and calculated type like Logantrance.”

“Well, what about the bag that Blythgrin carries?” Vegenrage asks.

“Ah, that is Erben, my fourteenth offspring. Erben is very inquisitive and very adventurous. Blythgrin has been on many adventures, and Erben has been steadfast at his side. They make a great team and have accumulated quite a powerful arsenal together.”

“So, Behaggen, can you communicate with them? Can you lead us to them? I mean, all the other offspring you have?”

“Well, yes and no. I can communicate with them if I am very close to them. That does not mean they have to accept communication with me. For example, Getcher would probably just ignore any attempt by me to communicate with him. As far as knowing where all my offspring are, I have no idea really. They could be anywhere.”

“So that is all the bags I know of except Parnapp, and he, we all know, is good for Farrah.”

“Yes, he is, and I can tell you Parnapp and I are the only bags that openly communicate with our master. This is a great advantage for the two of you, being that you are together, and we have lots of helpful insights for you, so don’t be afraid to ask us.”

“Okay, so let me ask you about what happened to me. What happened to me? The dragon prophecy said the dragons would change to a greater form of dragon, or they would be wiped out as a race altogether. I never saw
The Wattsverocy
, but I have heard reference to the book written by Hornspire. His visions have come true then, and the dragons have a new form now.”

“Vergraughtu knew of the book and actually stole it from Hornspire. He had it in his possession, and then Blethstole began to rise as the dominant dragon. He stole the book from Vergraughtu and imprisoned Hornspire. Both Vergraughtu and Blethstole used the book to their benefit and tried to script the prophecy to their desire. When you came along, they both knew you were the key needed to transform their form. Vergraughtu won out. Farrah has taken Blethstole’s left wing from him and three of his adorning horns. These cannot be replaced. This means Blethstole will soon lose his position as dominant dragon.”

“So this new form of dragon, it will unite all the dragons and lead them?”

“No, it will try and destroy them except for the females. It needs the females to continue its new form, and it will search them out and mate with them, killing all that stand in its way. The dragons, as we know them, are about to be killed off, and new much more potent dragons will soon dominate the worlds. This will take some time, but it is going to happen very fast according to Hornspire’s prophecy. The Dragon Feast is about to begin on the races of man and on the dragons. A new set of boundaries is about to take form in the Maglical System.” Vegenrage, Farrah, and Logantrance all look at one another.

“Logantrance, this may take the pressure off the races of man if the dragons have to fight against this new dragon. Maybe we can use this to hunt them all down.” Immediately after saying that, Vegenrage slants his head down and to the side. “Inglelapse is calling for me. There is trouble in Mourbarria. We have to go and help them.”

“You and Farrah go to Mourbarria, and I will go to Erkensharie. I must check on Ulegwahn and make sure Glimtron and his dwarves get to Erkensharie all right.”

“Okay, Logantrance. Make sure we all go to Richterblen together, okay? We may need the three of us in case there has been unforeseen danger left there,” Vegenrage says. Farrah gives Logantrance a big hug and tells him to be safe. He smiles and tells her the same. Logantrance walks through a Dimension Door, and Vegenrage looks around, grinding his lips to see his home has been used in this way and is now gone. Farrah rubs his shoulder, knowing what he is thinking.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I am fine. Do you still have the Staff of Barrier Breath? I can feel it, but I don’t see it, and if it is in your Bag of Holding, I should not feel it like this.”

“No, I don’t have it, Vegenrage. It turned into a small dragon, and he entered your body and roused that dragon beast. The staff is gone.”

“Hmm. I can sense the staff is not gone, but it is not ready to be found yet! Let’s go see what is happening in Mourbarria.” They walk through a Dimension Door, and Vollenbeln is left quiet and empty.

CHAPTER 2
Dragon Reclaim

Blethstole flies through his Dimension Door and approaches his home. All the dragons are perched outside his mountain. They quickly realize he has lost a wing and all but one of his horns. He has to use magic to fly now, and this is a huge disadvantage for a dragon. He flies past all the smaller and younger dragons and enters his lair. He glides down and lands in the center that used to be the most vast collection of treasure and magical artifacts of all the dragon lairs. Of course, Hornspire is gone as well. He looks around to see the walls of his lair have been coated in the melted treasure he used to sleep on and gain strength from. He is surrounded by Kertinkpice, Pryenthious, Bailseize, Gisewear, Gairdennow, Dribrillianth, and Gannream.

Pryenthious always was a cocky dragon and is the first to speak. “Looks like the great Blethstole is no more. Not only have you lost your treasure. you also lost a wing and all but one of your horns. I guess you took the races of man for granted.”

Dribrillianth has other concerns. “The races of man are no longer our biggest concern. We all know how the prophecy was written. We never saw the book, but we know that the dragon has changed its form, and now we are its intended victims. The only question I have is how did Hornspire stay hidden for so long and, just like that, he appears and transforms into this new dragon that, which is written, will be the end of us all?”

Blethstole grumbles deeply. “It was not Hornspire that transformed. It was Vergraughtu.”

The dragons gasp because they know the story of Vergraughtu. They know that Vergraughtu accepted willfully the magic that transformed him into the Staff of Barrier Breath. This staff transferred magic from Vergraughtu to its bearer, making the bearer immune to more and more dragon attacks as the bearer uses Vergraughtu. Not only does the bearer gain all these abilities, but Vergraughtu maintained these abilities as well, and should he ever take dragon form again, he has all the abilities plus those of the bearer. The dragons know they are defenseless against Vergraughtu.

The dragons start to sniff the air; something definitely has their attention. The dragons outside the mountain sniff the air as well and are astonished to see a sight never seen before. Gwithen, the white mare, has flown into view, and all the dragons are alerted to her presence, first by smell and then by her beauty. She flies past them all and right into Blethstole’s lair. She flies down and lands next to Blethstole.

“
I see your warring way has finally got the best of you. I warned you, and somehow you still live.” She looks from Blethstole to around all the dominant male dragons. They are stunned. A female dragon has never ventured to the lair of a male dragon. “Do not think you are the only ones aware of
The Wattsverocy
and its writing. My warnings to leave the races of man alone have gone unheard, and now, by trying to destroy them, you have unleashed a danger far greater than man. I am here to tell you all now that unless you find a way to unite with the races of man, you will be destroyed by this new threat.”

“Unite with the races of man, never.” Kertinkpice gets that off his chest right away and continues. “The races of man are our food, and that will not change. This new form of dragon was created by dragons, and if we are to die to further our species, then so be it.”

Pryenthious agrees, “If this new dragon is so dangerous that it can wipe us all out, then the races of man will go with us. I cannot see uniting with humanoids. They have become very strong in the use of magic and would use this partnership against us because they have always wanted to destroy us. I believe they would betray us and hunt us down when we least expect it.” Rumbling and talking among the dragons begin, and none of them think it is a good idea to join with the humanoids.

“You all do what you think you should do, but before you make unwise decisions, check this out.
The Wattsverocy
written by Hornspire has come to pass just as Hornspire wrote it would. He wrote another book called
The Passing
. Hornspire left this book with me for safekeeping. You might want to check this out, and this time all of you should read it so you can make decisions that will affect all of us and not just a few of us.” Gwithen shakes her head and flaps her left wing, and a book flops to the ground. “I can tell you this. I will die defending myself before I mate with a dragon that wishes to further its own form and will kill all dragons created to this point outside of the ones it needs to mate with. I will not be ruled by this and watch as my children are killed, which includes four of you in this room.”

Dribrillianth acknowledges his love for his mother, which is strong even among dragons. “I will not let anything hurt you, Mother. This new form is an abomination, and we do not need the assistance of the humanoids. We will band together, us dragons, and we will destroy this force, which is bringing such grief to us. Vlianth brought all dragons together for the first time in our history, and now, through Vlianth, an evil has grown, and we dragons will unite to destroy it.”

Gairdennow agrees, “That is right, Mother. Maybe this dragon can kill us, but it cannot kill all of us at the same time. We are the dragons of the Maglical System, and we fear no one or no thing. We will hunt this, and I say we hunt it right now.” The dragons in the room liven up, nodding to one another.

Blethstole takes the lead. “I am still the dominant dragon, and though I have lost a wing, I can lead us all to hunt down this menace. We will sniff it out and unleash the greatest force in the Maglical System. The dragons then will feed on the humanoid races like it was meant to be.” Blethstole rises out of his lair followed by all the dragons, except Gwithen, who stands there all alone. She looks at
The Passing
and magically secures it back under her wing. She takes to the wing and exits the lair. She notices all the dragons perched on the mountain are listening to Blethstole, and she flies through a Dimension Door.

This is a great scene. Dragons of all colors are all around Blethstole, who stands tall on top of a very large perch. The moon is shining silver on the shiny, smooth rock of the mountain. Blethstole addresses all the dragons. “
The Wattsverocy
has come to pass, and a new species of dragon has emerged. This dragon will seek to destroy us and mate with our females. We cannot let this happen, or it will be the end of us all. We must hunt down this predator to us all and destroy it before it becomes too strong for us to handle. We must hunt this new dragon, or it will hunt us. We must destroy it and continue to hunt down all the magic-using races of man and reclaim the Maglical System as ours as it was always meant to be. This is our dragon reclaim.” Blethstole talks and plans with the dragons for hours. The first actions are to eliminate the magic users of man, and if the new dragon is spotted or detected, all the dragons will converge on it. “We have no time to waste. This new dragon grows stronger every minute. Kertinkpice, Pryenthious, and Baliseize will take some of you to Strabalster to hunt.” Kertinkpice, Pryenthious, and Bailsieze head to the sky followed by half a dozen dragons, and they vanish through Dimension Doors.

“Gisewear, Gannream, and Gairdennow will head for Fargloin. Go now.” Gisewear, Gannream, and Gairdennow take to the wing followed by half a dozen dragons and head through Dimension Doors.

“Dribrillianth and I will hunt here on Kronton with the rest of you. Use your senses to their fullest and take nothing for granted. This is our dragon reclaim. Let us hunt.” Blethstole takes to flight using his magic, and Dribrillianth and the remaining dragons follow.

The scene shifts to the Talbuterall Lowlands on the planet Strabalster. The human race has mostly been wiped out on the planet Strabalster, and there are no magic users among them. There are a few small pockets of humans living there, and they survive in the lowlands on vegetables and whatever wild game they can hunt down with handheld spears and bows. The humans have been set back hundreds of years from the thriving population that once occupied what now is Hunoria. When Bastrenboar and his army were changed into the humanor, they returned to their homeland to see that the elves had retaliated against all the humans and nearly killed them all. Bastrenboar and his humanor felt no kinship to the humans and finished the job of killing them all except for women that they used to increase the humanor population. The humans had small villages and townships throughout the rock lands, the grasslands, and the lowlands, and they were all killed and taken over by the humanor except for the humans in the lowlands. The humans there have learned to use the vast caves and network of natural underground passageways to hide in, take refuge in, and elude predation from not only the humanor but the elves and dragons as well. The lowlands provide perfect cover with tunnels and underground passageways, and there are also very thick, lush forests that run all throughout the lowlands that provide great shelter and lots of places to hide and avoid detection. There are lots of fruits and a lot of game, so the humans not only have a lot of places to hide but also have plenty of food to survive.

The warm winds blow off the Briganyare Sea to the southwest, and the northeasterly flow of air brings the cold air from the Krasbeil Mountains over the sea and freezes the Briganyare at its furthest point in the north. The warm southerly air brings a lot of moisture to the lowlands, and the rich soils grow with lush vegetation and trees, and the quiet sands provide quiet protection for the humans here. This does not give them a lot of protection from the keen nose of a dragon, however, and Ayonde, a very young dragon of sandy blond color, has made his way here to hunt. Ayonde is very young for a dragon, maybe five hundred years old. This means there is yet another female dragon that has gone unnoticed. Being as young as Ayonde is, he does not attend the summoning of the dragons. He is just too small but easily big enough to feast on the humans. He has found a dozen humans hunting in the lowlands and swooped down on them, unleashing his Breath of Sandstorm. He has not matured fully yet, and his breath attack is pretty weak, but it is strong enough to create a sandstorm that disorients the humans while blinding them. In their confused and blinded state, he easily swoops in and makes quick meals of them. As he grows, his breath attack will grow stronger, becoming a strong abrasive and a blinding storm all in one. He has two horns that grow up and forward from the top of his head, and he has four tusks in the form of four-foot blades that extend from each of his wings. He is going to be fantastically beautiful when he grows up—if he grows up. He has blinded the humans with his breath attack and glided down, slicing them with the blades on his wings. He has impaled three humans with his blades and eats the human shish kebabs as he walks around, inspecting the dead and seeing if any are trying to escape. He has front legs not attached to his wings that he can walk on and slides one of the humans off the blade on his wing and bites the legs off and chews. He raises his head as he eats, tossing the rest of the meal into his mouth, chewing as he sniffs the air deeply. He looks around curiously as something has his attention.
Ayonde, your time has come
. Ayonde smells the air deeply. “I know you are there. Why hide from me? Are you my father come to kill me for fear of me already? I know you are dragon, but I cannot place the scent. You are very unfamiliar. Who are you? What are you?” Ayonde feels a rush of air fly past him very fast. “Stop with the childish scare tactics. They do not work on me. Show yourself.” Ayonde sees standing before him on its hind legs the newly formed Vemenomous. He stands thirteen feet tall on very long, slender, but muscular legs. His abdomen thins as it goes up to his chest, and he has very long, slender, but muscular arms. He has two very large wings coming out his back that rise high above him and then hinge in the middle, coming back down. His head is flat with great frills coming out the back and looks very intimidating with a snakelike tongue, slithering in and out of his mouth. His eyes are very intimidating, very large and brown, peering right at Ayonde with large pronounced ridges over the top of his eyes. His belly is yellow, going all the way up his chest, neck, and ending under his chin. The rest of his body is black, and his belly is armor-like scales, while the rest of him is a reptilian type of tough skin. There is a humanoid look to this creature, but the head, tail, wings, and claws are definitely dragon.

“What are you?”

The new dragon stares at Ayonde, quiet and motionless, just looking mean and breathing deeply. Ayonde spits sand darts at the creature, and they hit dead-on. This is a surprisingly powerful spell for such a young dragon. Dragons do not have to speak for magic that they spit. They have the ability to use their breath attacks in different forms, and they do not have to speak to do this, and this is true for all dragons. Ayonde’s darts are about the size of watermelons, and their power is not that they are meant to spear the victim, but they are abrasive and gritty that meant to wear away the target and sand it down. They are very effective and numerous. Ayonde spits twelve of these darts, and they hit right on, grinding the scale, skin, and flesh away from Vemenomous, and the wounds heal as quickly as they were formed. Ayonde spits with great accuracy, hitting from the groin all the way up the belly of the beast to its neck, causing lots of damage that heals quickly. Ayonde swings his left wing at the beast, followed by his right wing, while he chants magical words. This sends spinning blades of sand at the beast, and these are much more powerful than the darts. They are much more powerful than Vemenomous had thought they would be, and the slicing sand nearly cuts his abdomen in half in two places. He falls to the side, and this will take more time to heal, and he concentrates on it. Ayonde pounces on him, jumping high into the air and coming down with the blades of his right wing, impaling Vemenomous through his right shoulder, just below his heart and right through his right thigh, causing extreme pain. Ayonde raises his left wing, ready to impale Vemenomous through his head when Vemenomous unleashes an unknown breath attack, disintegrating Ayonde’s head down to his shoulders. Dragons are immune to all dragon breath attacks but not this one. Ayonde falls to the left, and Vemenomous is lying there, not quite as invincible as he thought he was. He uses a lot of energy to heal himself and realizes that if such a young dragon can almost defeat him, what would an adult dragon do to him? He rolls over and uses the claws on his hands to slash through the scales on Ayonde and pulls the skin and scales away from the body and begins to feed on the dead dragon. Vemenomous has a flat head with a deep ridge that descends between his eyes to his snout that runs flat to the tip of his nose. He has long round teeth with sharp points that puncture and tear the flesh away, and he feeds by swallowing large chunks of flesh. He avoids the bone and concentrates on the red flesh of Ayonde. Vemenomous feeds in frenzy. This is the first meal he has eaten since taking his new form, and he consumes nearly three hundred pounds of flesh before he walks off with a bulging stomach.