The Darkness of Old; The Ancient Crown; The Winged One

by Hans Bezdek

  “W-What was that?” asked the man.

  “Maybe there’s a fight going on?” I offered, looking towards the door along with everyone else.

  There was another scream. And then another.

  I looked back at the others and we all stood up. While it would be great if this didn’t involve us or the Dragon War, I had a feeling we weren’t going to be so lucky. The four of us made for the door, the argumentative man trailing behind us.

  We entered the street to see a handful of people screaming and running every which way. A handful of people were standing still looking up at the sky towards the north. I covered my eyes and tried to get a better look at what they were looking at. My eyes focused and I could just make something out in the far distance. The longer I looked, the more I realized it wasn’t just something, but many somethings.

  Nearly a hundred somethings. And they were coming right for Durnskeep.

  “Dragons!” cried out those that were running, describing exactly what we saw. “Dragons are coming!”

  I lowered my hands and glanced back at the guy who had been arguing us. The man’s face had gone completely white and his mouth was half open.

  “Whelp,” I said, getting his attention. “Told ya.”

  Chapter 7

  I tried to think over all the sounds of panic. The argumentative man ran off without a snide comment in return, joining the mix of people screaming and running around. In addition to everyone freaking out around us, I could see movement on top of the walls guarding Durnskeep. Archers were being deployed to try and protect the city, but I knew it wouldn’t be enough. Our group was going to have to help out, but even going all out I doubted we’d be able to stand up against so many dragons. We’d be lucky to take out half their number before we fell.

  “This doesn’t make any sense,” mumbled Cassandra, crossing her arms.

  “Do the Dar’Ka ever make much sense?” asked Dhot.

  “Ulrich was here this morning,” she explained. “Why wouldn’t he have just attacked with his fleet right then, rather than waiting half a day to come back?”

  The elf had a point. On top of that, if the Dar’Ka took over Durnskeep, there’d be no reason to try and take Jiezvall. Durnskeep made a much better entry point into Brumark, even if it wasn’t as easy to move the Greeners to the city. And why would they be coming from the north? The black and reds should’ve been coming from the east…

  “Wait a minute,” said Dhot, fiddling with his Goggles. “They’re not the Dar’Ka! They’re blue dragons!”

  “The blues?” asked Braun, a smile appearing on his face. “I can’t wait to see em again!”

  “It might not be a happy reunion,” I said, looking at the archers on the wall with a different kind of concern now. “If the guards kill any of them, the blues might turn on the city and attack.”

  “Ah… didn’t think bout that,” nodded the dwarf.

  The four of us ran towards and along the wall, shouting up at the archers to hold their fire. A few of the guards gave us confused looks while most of them ignored us. We tried to briefly explain that the blue dragons were allies, but if anyone believed us I’d never know. Captains all across the walls began barking orders to raise weapons and prepare to attack.

  Unlike us, the dragons had covered a lot of ground and their blue scales could now clearly be seen. If it was just one or two blue dragons flying towards the city, the guards probably would’ve been more cautious. The blues hadn’t proved to be very dangerous to the peaceful races of Yaerna, but there was still an animosity towards any type of dragon. There being so many dragons of any color coming straight for the city typically only meant one thing: war.

  Our pleas to not fire on the dragons went nowhere as the dragons got within firing range. A hundred arrows shot out from the town and towards the mass of blues. The dragons, as if expecting this, rose higher into the air and easily avoided the first volley. A few of the blues roared out in frustration, but from where I was it looked like none of them were hit.

  The roars did them no favors, and another round of arrows shot out at them. A dozen of dragons towards the bottom of the pack beat their wings at the new wave of arrows, creating a gust strong enough to push the arrows out of their way. The blues began circling above the town, and a third wave was fired at them. This time, several of the dragons let loose a roar of flames, incinerating the shots long before they reached their intended victims.

  “Are these the same archers we’d be given to fight the Dar’Ka?” asked Dhot.

  “I have no idea,” I admitted.

  “They aren’t instilling me with much confidence,” muttered Cassandra.

  While I was glad none of the blues were getting hurt, I couldn’t help but agree with her. If this was the best they could do while defending not just their lives, but their homes and families, I wasn’t looking forward to seeing how well they’d do against hostile black and reds.

  “Halt!” roared one of the blues, lowering himself to address the city but still keeping a healthy distance above us.

  Shouts came from the captains telling their men to hold. The guards stopped firing, but held their bows up and at the ready, arrows nocked.

  “We have not come here to fight with the people of Durnskeep!” announced the blue dragon. It took me a moment, but I recognized the dragon’s voice. His name was Darius, and he was one of Kiera’s top men. “On the contrary, we are here to help fight alongside you!”

  “Fight with us?” I heard some people cowering nearby ask. “What could he possibly be talking about?”

  How did the blues know to show up now? Had the Great Oracle talked with them as well?

  “We wish to speak with a certain Reimar and also any leaders of Durnskeep,” continued the dragon. “We will explain to them why we are here in more detail, and see how best to move forward against the Dar’Ka. We will wait for you outside of the northern walls.”

  Whispers about the Dar’Ka sprang out all around me as Darius lifted himself back to the rest of the circling blue dragons. As one, they all glided down towards the north side of the city, landing some distance on the other side of the walls.

  “Guess we better get moving,” I said to the others, who nodded in agreement.

  The four of us ran to the northern part of the city, keeping our eyes peeled for wherever the stupid gate had been moved to. While there were still people running towards their homes, the majority of the Durnskeep citizens seemed to trust the blues and began to fill the streets again. Excited chatter was all around us, and I could pick up the constant themes of ‘war’ and ‘Dar’Ka’ among the people we passed.

  “I wonder how they knew to come here,” I said, wondering how much more excitement we’d have today.

  “It is good timing,” nodded Cassandra as we ran.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” asked Dhot. “I called them here. Maha!”

  “You called them?” I asked, slowing down as I saw Braun was beginning to fall behind. “What are you talking about?”

  Dhot pulled out a small black box with a gray button on the top of it.

  “Don’t blow us up!” Cassandra and I cried out.

  “Huh?” he asked, tilting his head. “No! This isn’t a bomb, it’s a communication device. I’ve been handing these out to the people that’ve agreed to work with us. You’ve both seen me do it!”

  “I just assumed you were giving them weird gifts,” I shrugged. If I tried to figure out everything the goblin was doing, I would never get anything done.

  “Will… ye… will ye slow down?” huffed Braun, finally catching up to us.

  “This is slow,” I insisted.

  “Sorry,” said Cassandra, slowing her pace even more for the dwarf. “Dhot was just telling us he’s the one that got the blues to come here.”

  “Aye, kinda assumed that,” nodded the tried dwarf.

  “You did?!” I asked in surprise.

  “Course,” nodded Braun. “He’s always handin out those blasted talky
things like they’re candy.”

  “Thanks, Braun,” said Dhot, holding his head high and looking away from us. “I’m glad somebody pays attention to me.”

  Cassandra and I shared an eye roll.

  “I’ll do a better job moving forward,” I lied.

  “Good,” said Dhot. “Anyway, I called them before we left Ilkas this morning and told them it sounded like the Second Dragon War was finally here. I told them to meet us here as fast as they could.”

  “Wait… Why didn’t you tell us that when we were worried the dragons coming were black and reds?” asked Cassandra.

  “I might’ve forgotten about calling them,” laughed the goblin, rubbing the back of his head. “We’ve had a lot going on today!”

  We found the gate leading out of the city and I decided to leave yelling at the goblin until later. More guards than usual were stationed there, probably not entirely trusting what the blue dragons had said. When we passed through the gate they tried to dissuade us from going out of town this way, but we ignored them. As if being told not to do something would’ve ever worked on me.

  “Wait up!” shouted a voice behind us as we looked around for any sign of the blues. The rocky exterior of the mountain meant the blues could be anywhere.

  I turned to see Gerard jogging after us, Dmetri in tow.

  “That’s not a combination I expected to see,” I said to the two newcomers.

  “Times of crisis make strange bedfellows,” mumbled Dmetri.

  “Maha!”

  “He didn’t mean it like that,” said Cassandra disapprovingly. I did a better job at hiding my snicker.

  “I’m here to represent Markus and the Shadows,” said Gerard. “While we have no reason to doubt the blues, the boss decided to keep a safe distance away just in case.”

  “Understandable,” I nodded. “I’m surprised you didn’t feel the same way, Dmetri.”

  “Of course I did!” hissed the gnome, arms crossed. “I was finishing up talking to certain city officials when the darn dragons showed up. None of them wanted to come out here, so they made me come on behalf of the city.”

  That made much more sense. I was also glad to hear that Dmetri was taking our threats seriously, and had been trying to get us an army.

  “Heads up,” mumbled Braun, nodding back towards the walls. “We’ve got company, lads.”

  I looked past Dmetri and Gerard expecting to see a contingent of the guards coming to try and talk us back into the city. Instead, I found a hulking troll walking towards us. The creature was practically the size of the orc I fought with in Aelric, except slightly slenderer. He had an array of weapons on his belt, and I had no doubt he knew how to use them. As if that wasn’t worrying enough, the gray skinned troll had a scar under each of his eyes in the shape of an X.

  The sign of Xerath.

  “You guys the ones meeting with these dragons?” asked the troll, glancing around and sounding completely disinterested.

  Everyone but me went for their weapons. If this troll wanted to kill us, I was confident he’d have gone about this in a different way.

  “We are,” I nodded. “I’m Reimar.”

  “The one they asked for,” said the troll, nodding to himself.

  “The gnome is here representing Durnskeep and the half elf is representing the Shadows,” I further explained. Those two didn’t seem thrilled that I brought them to the troll’s attention.

  “Whatever,” said the troll, stretching out. I couldn’t tell if he didn’t notice that everyone was ready to pull their weapons on him, or if he didn’t care. I had a suspicion it was the latter. “Since we’re sharing, I’m Fulco. I’m here as an agent of Xerath, in case that wasn’t obvious enough. I mostly wanna see what’s going on.”

  “Nice to meet you, Fulco,” I said politely. It was never a good idea to make these kinds of people angry.

  “It rarely is,” he replied.

  The rest of us shared uneasy looks.

  The sound of rocks caught everyone’s attention, and we looked to see a human woman coming around the side of a large boulder. She wore dark furs and had circular designs in blue paint on her face. She had wild black hair and piercing blue eyes, which immediately locked onto mine.

  “Reimar,” smiled Kiera, as she crossed her arms and leaned against the boulder. “I was hoping you’d give me a call.”

  Chapter 8

  “Good to see you again, Kiera,” I smiled back, feeling my face turn a little pink. “I figured we’d be talking with Darius.”

  “Sorry to disappoint,” she laughed.

  “I-I’m not disappointed!” I said quickly.

  “Are you feeling okay?” Dmetri asked me, looking me over. “Your face looks like it’s burning up.”

  “Funny how that always happens around this blue dragon,” mumbled Cassandra.

  “Maha!”

  “She’s a blue?” asked Gerard, looking Kiera over. “I guess that explains the strange dress.”

  “They live in Ostad, in northern Brumark,” explained Braun. “They gotta keep warm somehow when they’re in their human forms.”

  “It’s good to see you’re doing well, Braun,” smiled Kiera. “I was hoping you’d stay safe on your journey.”

  “Not so sure if I’d be sayin I’ve stayed safe,” admitted Braun. “Though you know me lighter side always be runnin when he can.”

  “That I do,” giggled Kiera.

  “You’re a blue dragon and you know some of these people,” surmised Fulco, the troll shifting impatiently on his feet. “Can you get to what the other dragon was talking about when he was over the city? Somethin about the Dar’Ka?”

  “You mean the Second Dragon War?” she asked.

  Fulco blinked.

  “I don’t know much,” she shrugged. “That’s why we came to talk to Reimar. When Dhot called us, all he said was that it has begun and we needed to hurry to Durnskeep with fighters as quickly as possible.”

  “Sounds like this Reimar is awfully important,” said Fulco, shifting his stare to me. I instinctively tensed up. Surely he wouldn’t try to kill me right now… right?

  “Now that everyone is together, we should discuss what to do next,” offered Cassandra, raising her eyebrows at me to take over.

  “Uh, sure,” I said, clearing my throat. “The Dar’Ka are coming to attack Jiezvall and will continue into Brumark if we don’t stop them. We need to quickly get an army together and travel to Jiezvall in order to warn and protect them.”

  “I’ve brought what I could on short notice,” explained Kiera. “We have a little over 80 blues with us. Any idea on how many black and reds they’ll come with?”

  “No way of knowing,” I sighed, shaking my head. “Could be a few dozen or a few hundred. I doubt every single black and red dragon they have will be there, but I haven’t exactly been involved in a war before. I’d assume there will be at least some Greeners with them to boot.”

  “What about the gold and silvers?” asked Kiera. “Have you been able to convince any of them to fight with us?”

  “Not exactly…” I said.

  “The Republic of Hur has decided to prepare for the war, but they aren’t exactly working us,” explained Cassandra. “They put one of their gold dragons in charge of it all. Let’s just say we aren’t optimistic in them offering help until the Republic is in danger.”

  “That was to be expected,” shrugged Kiera, looking at Cassandra. “What about your people?”

  “The Queen of Aelric will help us, but they don’t have a way to get here quickly.”

  “I didn’t bother notifying her,” added Dhot. “Jiezvall is on the other side of Yaerna from the elves. There’s no way they’d make it in time.”

  “Makes sense,” nodded the blue dragon. “If we survive this first conflict, I’ll send some of my people down to the elves in an attempt to help their transportation problem.”

  “What about me people?” asked Braun, looking hopeful. “Have ye heard from King Julfr
at all?”

  “We’ve been in contact,” smiled Kiera. “Relations have been as good as ever. We dispatched a few dragons to them, with the rest arriving later tonight or early tomorrow. They’ll be able to move the dwarves quickly to Jiezvall. Dhot will need to tell King Julfr where to go.”

  “Can do!” nodded Dhot.

  “That just leaves Durnskeep as far as reinforcements go,” I said.

  We all turned and stared down at Dmetri. The gnome was fidgeting and staring at a rock near his foot that he apparently found fascinating.

  “Well?” asked Braun, taking a step closer to Dmetri and reaching for Grimkell’s Mace.

  “Calm yourself,” sighed Dmetri, putting his arms out towards the dwarf. “After calling in several rather large favors, I was able to convince the powers that be to provide assistance to your cause.”

  “I knew you had it in you,” I said to my old boss.

  “Uh huh,” he grumbled.

  “How many people are they going to give to us?” asked Cassandra, tilting her head to the side.

  “Here’s the thing…” began Dmetri.

  “That sounds promising,” said Kiera dryly.

  “Durnskeep doesn’t have a very active military,” explained Dmetri. “The walls here provide so much protection, plus we’re very good at negotiating our ways out of disputes with the surrounding territories. I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I’ve personally been responsible for multiple-”

  “Spit it out,” warned Braun.

  “Durnskeep can offer a few hundred troops today, but it’ll take time to get more,” finished Dmetri.

  “Only a few hundred?” I complained, running a hand over my face. “We had to fight against more than that in Aelric! There’s bound to be way more Greeners that march on Jiezvall!”

  “Feel lucky you got any at all,” said Dmetri, shooting me a glare. “This is going to leave the city completely defenseless!”

  We both knew that wasn’t true. I’d have bet my life that Dmetri fanagled a deal that would involve the Tumblers providing security for Durnskeep. Guarding a whole town would cost quite a bit of quat, and all of it would go straight to the gnome. He was never one to let an opportunity like this slip through his grubby little fingers.