by Duke Kittle
* * *
Having collected the governor, Kravek, and Methystra, along with a few of the guards and the injured Luna, Tina stood on Kravek's shoulder as the governor unlocked and opened Captain Cephalin's quarters. He stepped out of the way as Kravek ducked under the door and headed into the captain of the guard's quarters. The captain's room looked as simple as any other guard’s room. There was a pair of bunks in the room with a fireplace settled against the far wall. Both of the bunks looked as though they had been made up, but only one of them had anything around it. There was a couple of boxes under the bunk to the right of the door. One of them was a long, wooden crate.
Kravek pointed to it. “That's the crate I carried to Dragon's Mouth.”
Tina climbed off Kravek's shoulder and leapt onto the bunk over the wooden crate. She perched on the side and looked down at it as the runic circle appeared in her right lens. “Take it out and open it, Kravek. I can see the magic around it, but I detect no protective spells.”
Kravek scooted the box out and pulled the loose top off it. Inside was a lot of packing straw to cushion what the crate had carried. In the middle of the straw was a shape which Tina noted looked as if it could have held Exil'idya. Kravek settled on his knees over the crate. “What was in this?”
“An item of powerful magic, stolen, I believe, from the wizard who created the Dragon Eaters.”
“Why would he have stolen it?” The governor moved into the room and stood where he could look down into the empty box.
“There's a lot to explain, but the item is missing.” Tina looked back over her shoulder at Luna. “Do you know of anywhere Idori might have hidden something he didn't want anyone to find?”
Luna walked to the fireplace and knelt down in front of it. She lifted the grate and rested her hand on the ash covered bottom. “Down here.” The mink curled her claws under the edge of the fireplace's false bottom and started to lift it up, though she immediately dropped it and grunted as she put her hand on her shoulder. “It's iron. I can't shift it with this arm.”
Kravek moved to the fireplace and, after Luna lifted it enough for him to fit his thick fingers underneath, pushed the iron panel up. He leaned his head away immediately. “That is ugly.”
Such a statement was encouraging given the context. “Pull it out please, Kravek.”
Kravek reached into the space under the fireplace and pulled the object out. It was the monstrous head Tina had seen depicted in the High Theorist’s book.
Tina sighed in relief. “This is exactly what I needed to find. Take it outside and put it on the ground. And everyone, please stand back from it.” She climbed back to Kravek's shoulder as everyone vacated the room.
Outside, Methystra stood with her arms at her sides as she looked at the wretched thing Kravek was carrying. “That...” she took a step back, “Tina, I sense the souls of Maldavians bound within that monstrosity.”
Tina climbed down from Kravek's shoulders and moved to the ground. She ran out a few feet in front of Kravek and spread her arms in a gesture for everyone to move back. “Kravek, put the head down on the ground and step away.”
Kravek stepped forward and rested the creature's skull down on the ground. He then stepped back to join the group of guards. Methystra stood behind and well back from Tina as the wizard folded her hands together and quietly chanted an incantation. The shawl hanging in the crooks of her elbows floated upward and formed a semi-circle with arms drifting down to Tina’s sides.
Tina adjusted her glasses and quietly spoke a single word in the Arachean tongue. “Awaken.”
A glow rose in the eyes of the creature's skull as it lifted from the ground on its own and floated upright in the air. Its mandibles spread to reveal the many hooks on the inside of its mouth and the single hole Tina had seen in the High Theorist's book. A grey mist drifted out of the creature's mouth, and Tina held her hands up as her shawl floated in front of her with its length creating an 'X'. The grey mist drifted backward from her and disappeared into its mouth, though the glow remained in the creature's eyes.
Tina spoke again in the Arachean tongue. “That which has been bound within, return to Cerra so it may breathe again.”
Exil'idya shuddered back and forth several times before it flipped over, and its mandibles stretched upward. A column of light shot into the sky with a deafening boom. Emerging with the column of light, the ghostly shapes of two monstrous Maldavians rose up to tower over the town. The two dragons let out loud roars which could be heard for many miles in every direction. Both of the Maldavians had two pairs of wings each which stretched out and spanned the entire city in all four directions, though one dragon was significantly larger than the other. The Maldavian spirits folded their wings and looked down at the group gathered around Exil'idya.
Methystra, her eyes wide, spoke quietly. “Kaelus and Malidath...”
The two Maldavians looked at Methystra. Then, the smaller of the two, Kaelus, looked up at Malidath. Malidath bowed his head to his brother, then turned his head toward the sky and closed his eyes. He breathed in deeply and released his breath slowly as Kaelus lowered himself down onto his knees.
He bowed his head as he looked at Tina and spoke in the Maldavian tongue. His voice was deep and resonant, yet soft and subdued. “Thank you, Wizard, for releasing us from that dark place.”
Tina's shawl drifted down and came to rest in the crook of her elbows once more. She bowed her head to Kaelus. “The one who imprisoned you there wished to use you and your brother to destroy your brethren, Kaelus of Maldav.”
“We know,” Kaelus replied, “but he was mistaken in choosing us.”
Tina's ears stood up and swiveled to face Kaelus. “What do you mean?”
Kaelus bowed his head. “As much as Malidath and I wished to overthrow our father, it was not out of malice for our people we chose to do so. We believed our great father, Shahdazhan, was leading our people down a path which would eventually bring about their destruction. Even now, it may still be so. But that is a tale which has yet to be written. And though we stand before you now, we have not long in this world. Freed from Exil'idya, life will take its course and deliver us to our great father in the afterlife.”
Kaelus closed his eyes. “I can only hope that being reunited with our mother, Alysryzara, has calmed his anger. We have both accepted responsibility for the atrocity which was committed upon that day. Such is why Narash could not use us to fuel his... monstrosities.”
Tina's face paled. “Narash...?”
“The Idassian wizard, Narash Advonar, Mage Lord of Kylith.” Kaelus spoke the name with notable distaste. “It is he who tried to summon us and twist our souls to his will to drive these Eaters of Magic.”
Tina's whiskers twitched. “Narash Advonar.” She turned her head to glare at the governor, though she didn't catch his eye as he stared up at the two Maldavian spirits. She sighed and looked up at Kaelus. “Kaelus, do you know why he created the Eaters of Magic?”
Kaelus nodded. “We do. But it was not out of a wish to produce a threat to negotiate with our people. Narash sought the destruction of the monolith wherein lies the soul of Maldav, our progenitor, and Shahdazhan, our great father. In his musings near Exil'idya, Malidath and I overheard him speak of it twice. Once in those occurrences, he spoke in the presence of one who resides in this city. We can feel his familiar spirit nearby.”
“Who, Kaelus?” Methystra spoke up as she finally stepped forward.
Kaelus turned his gaze to Methystra. “One who Narash called by name; Idori.”
Luna looked stricken by the statement and closed her eyes. She put her face into her hands and whimpered.
Kaelus looked down at Luna. “We have heard your voice before in many heated discussions with this Idori.” The towering Maldavian's expression softened. “Your beloved is afflicted by the presence of a demon of magic, Luna Copaire. We know of the place from whence it came, and
if you wish, we can spare him its endless hunger.”
“You have long suffered its presence within him, though you did not know of its existence.” Kaelus lowered his hand and a mist flowed around the edge of his finger as it became tangible enough to lift Luna's chin. “You should know now, though he possessed not the will to tell you, he stole Exil’idya from Narash in order to protect your people from the Eaters of Magic. Narash wished to destroy Likonia as well to bar further interference from its people. Furthermore, Idori prevented the demon which dwelt within him from using Exil’idya to steal the souls of the people in Likonia to feed its hunger.”
Luna lifted her head, and though tears streamed from her eyes, the corners of her mouth quivered as a frown fought with a smile. To Tina's surprise, Luna spoke back to Kaelus in Maldavian. “Thank you. I knew... something was wrong.”
Kaelus bowed his head. “We Maldavians value loyalty and strength. The two of you have shown both. Such devotion deserves a chance uncorrupted.”
Tina drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She had not been a friend of Captain Cephalin since their arrival, but knowing his actions had been to protect the people of Likonia and to resist the will of a demon cast his character into a whole new light for her. But there was still a task to be done.
Tina stepped forward. “Kaelus, Malidath, do you know how the Eaters of Magic may be undone?”
Kaelus rose as Malidath lowered himself down to meet Tina's gaze. Malidath's voice was much deeper than Kaelus's, and he spoke more slowly as his tones rumbled throughout the area. “They will undo themselves. Narash was foolish to go forward with his plan once he learned we would not aid him. He bound the souls of his servants, Leilani and Nana, into the Eaters of Magic. He first bound them to see if it was possible. When he discovered it was, he released them for a brief time to make preparations. Now, they are bound within the Eaters of Magic permanently.”
“But the need for power of the Eaters of Magic is too great without our magic. Narash uses my blood now to sustain them, and only when Cerra's Grace is at its fullest glow is their magic strong enough to venture from my body. And when I pass from this place, even that will no longer sustain them.” Malidath wrinkled his snout.
“Leilani and Nana are to be mourned. As long as Narash remains bound within the first of the Eaters of Magic, so too shall they be bound into the second and the third, and all will perish with the passing of Cerra's Grace on this night.”
Tina had mixed feelings about the passing of the Dragon Eaters. Though she wanted them undone, she wished that Leilani and Nana could escape the fate to which their master had condemned them. “Is there no way the women may be saved?”
Malidath rose and shook his head. “Narash may well escape his death if he chooses to unbind himself from the Eaters of Magic. In doing so, his servants will die. Their only salvation could have been in Narash's death, but as he possesses the greatest portion of magic invested in the Eaters of Magic, it cannot come to pass.”
“Then,” Tina adjusted her glasses, “Narash was not killed.”
Malidath shook his head. “He lives within the first of the Eaters of Magic. And while it sustains him, no magic may touch him but his own.”
Kaelus rested his hand on his brother's wing, and Malidath folded all four of them. “Our time has come, Wizard of the Council of Stars.” He then turned his head to look down at Luna. “We know you have tried to find peace between our people and your own. For that, we, in passing, wish to grant you the chance to be with your beloved again.”
Malidath looked down at Tina once more. “We can do no more to aid you but in moving on, ally of Maldav.” He bowed his head. “And so, we grant you our only boon.”
Tina bowed in return to Malidath. “May your great father forgive and welcome you, Kaelus and Malidath.”
Kaelus and Malidath bowed their heads to Tina before turning them toward the sky. With a final, trumpeting roar, the ground shook, and the column of light coming from Exil'idya brightened. The whole city was flooded with light for a few seconds before it faded from view and plunged the city back into darkness.
Exil'idya fell to the ground. The light had left the relic's eyes, and its mandibles folded closed. Tina walked up to it and wrinkled her muzzle as she rested her hand on the side of it. A problem created by magic had to be defeated by magic, and so it had. But the Arachean relic was far too dangerous an object to leave lying about even within the vaults of Kerovnia. “I do not possess the power to destroy this.” She looked up at Kravek. “But I will see it destroyed by those who do.”