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

by Hans Bezdek

  “And what’s the matter with yer face?” Braun said, squinting as he looked at me.

  “Um… I don’t know what you mean,” I lied.

  “He’s right,” nodded Cassandra. “Your eyes are all puffy and red.”

  “I, er, must’ve gotten some rocks or dust in em,” I said, looking away. This was getting embarrassing.

  “Uh huh,” said Cassandra. She placed a hand gently on my shoulder. “Whatever happened, don’t worry about it. We’re all okay now.”

  “Well, mostly,” said Dhot, grinning through his pain. “We ready to go after Ulrich?”

  “No way,” I said, shaking my head. “You and Cassandra are too hurt.”

  “I can still fight,” said Cassandra.

  “What is with everyone telling me they can still fight when they’re injured?” I sighed.

  “Reimar be right,” said Braun. “Dhot and ya would keep him distracted while fightin Ulrich. It’d be best if ye sat this one out.”

  “But-”

  “It’s true,” I nodded. There was no way I was letting them chase after Ulrich with me. “I can’t risk the Time Shield not going off next time.”

  “We could just as easily get caught out on our way back to Chundar,” said Dhot.

  “Braun will go back with you two,” I said firmly. The dwarf was courteous enough to not argue with me and simply nodded. “If the three of you move as quickly as you can and try to not get noticed, I’m sure you could make it back in one piece.”

  “Are you sure you don’t need our help?” asked Cassandra. “You really think you can defeat Ulrich on your own this time?”

  I hesitated. “I have no clue. The Great Oracle mentioned something about needing all of the gifts he gave us.”

  “Sounds like ya might need us then,” said Braun solemnly.

  “I… I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I just know I don’t want any of the three of you to die.”

  Everyone looked at the floor in silence for a moment. There didn’t seem to be a right answer to this problem. If they didn’t come with me, I could die. But if they did, surely one of them would.

  “What if… What if we gave you all of the gifts?” suggested Cassandra.

  “But I can’t use them,” I pointed out.

  “Was the Great Oracle clear that we needed to be the ones that had them in the fight?” she asked.

  “Well… no,” I yielded.

  The elf took off her necklace and handed it over to me. “Then take this. The Great Oracle hasn’t led us down the wrong path before. There must be something to it.”

  “It’s worth a shot,” agreed Dhot. The goblin took the looking glass off of Helga and tossed it to me. Braun quickly followed with his stone.

  “Try not to mix it up with all the other rocks,” said the dwarf. “I really like the thing.”

  I nodded and placed the three items in my bag, moving the green dragon mask next to them. They all seemed so useless in there, but maybe they’d come in handy against the half black dragon.

  “Thanks, guys,” I said. “I’ll do my best to not let you down.”

  “We’re sure you won’t,” said Dhot.

  “Now get after Ulrich,” smiled Cassandra. “Yaerna’s not big enough for two half dragons!”

  I smiled at my friends, really hoping this wouldn’t be the last time I ever saw them. I nodded at them, then walked into the cave.

  It was time to kill or be killed.

  Chapter 18

  I sprinted through the narrow passage, which wasn’t wide enough for me to fly in. If Ulrich hadn’t run, there could be the chance that I’d catch up to him before he made it out to wherever he was going. Granted, I could be running into a trap. Ulrich has had his home on Chundar for who knew how long. He clearly had the time to build a castle, so it wouldn’t be that surprising if he burrowed out a complex set of tunnels through several of these mountains.

  As soon as the worry entered my mind, it was gone. I had come to the end of the path and into a giant dome-shaped room. Torches hung around the open space, casting off purple and blue light. Several fully stocked bookshelves lined the far northern wall, cushions padded a makeshift bed to the south, and maps of Yaerna with various circles and X’s were covering the eastern part.

  Ulrich sat at a table in the middle, sipping out of a mug and watching me. Everything was sized for a half dragon, except for the tiny mug. It was a little distracting.

  “I was beginning to think my accomplices killed you,” smirked Ulrich.

  “Don’t worry,” I smiled. “It was quite the opposite.”

  Ulrich’s smile faltered but quickly recovered. “There’s plenty more where they came from. Judging from the fact that your friends aren’t with you, I can only assume they did their job and incapacitated them enough to leave this fight to just the two of us.”

  “More like I told them I wanted you all to myself,” I lied, taking a few steps into the room. I used my peripherals to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. I had no idea why Ulrich decided to come here. There didn’t seem to be any traps, and there certainly weren’t any Dar’Ka dragons lurking around. It really did seem like we were alone.

  Ulrich laughed. “I’m glad you’re so confident, especially after our fight at Jiezvall. You needed your friends to come and save you, in case you forgot.”

  “Everyone has off days,” I shrugged.

  “I suppose they do,” nodded Ulrich, setting the mug down. He gently scooted his large chair back and turned to face the maps. “I must thank you for bringing all of Yaerna’s resistance to me.”

  “It’s the Collective.”

  “I heard,” he said, shaking his head. “Surely you weren’t the one that came up with that.”

  “You’re right about that,” I grinned.

  “Anyway, by bringing the Collective to Ra’Chok I can wipe out everyone that is against me in one move,” continued the black half dragon, examining one of the maps.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” I said. “We’ve taken out the majority of your Greeners, and the fight between the dragons looked pretty even to me.”

  “Greeners are always replaceable,” chuckled Ulrich, glancing back at me. “Even if my army falls today, they’ll take out most, or all, of yours.”

  “I don’t see how that’s a victory for you,” I said, a bit confused. Had he finally gone completely crazy and didn’t understand how you win a war?

  “There are more black and reds on this island for me to recruit,” he explained. “Losing so many today would be a setback, certainly, but I’d be able to get together more. For the forces of the mainland? I doubt it’d be so easy. There aren’t many blues left, and the gold and silvers that aren’t here are too busy playing politics to want to fight us. I’m sure there may be some dwarves and elves that would put up a fight, along with some smaller human towns, but they won’t stand long against me. Not after the Collective lost so many today.”

  I shook my head. “You really care about no one but yourself, huh?”

  “That was something I thought the two of us had in common when we first me,” said Ulrich, sounding disappointed. “You changed, though. That stupid elven girl made you weak. I thought I could excuse you for falling for a pretty face, but then you go and befriend a goblin and a dwarf? Pathetic.”

  “Even before them, I never would’ve been perfectly content to let people that relied on me die by the hundreds,” I argued.

  “It is for the betterment of the Dar’Ka,” said Ulrich, shaking a finger at me. “The black and reds know that the crowned one is their savior. They’d do whatever it took to protect me, and do my bidding. Even if it cost them their lives.”

  “Do you even believe that prophecy?” I asked, shaking my head in disbelief.

  “I don’t even know anymore,” admitted Ulrich, turning back to his maps. “But I once did. I was so sure it was me that I devoted my life to finding Ludek’s crown. This is where I did it all, in this cave far away from everyone.
It took decades of nonstop research, reading up on any rumor, memorizing maps and possible routes. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that I couldn’t be the one to remove the Shattered Sword from the crown...”

  “I’m sure it was quite the bummer,” I said. I looked around the room again, this time taking it in as the place that Ulrich had spent most of his life toiling away. It ultimately led to his success of finding it, and to the hundreds of lives he destroyed because of it.

  “I wandered Gorland for years,” continued Ulrich, speaking mostly to himself at this point. “Occasionally, I had come across an elf or two and convince them to attempt to retrieve the Shattered Sword. Time and again they failed, and died. When I laid my eyes on you and your friend, though… something within me knew I had found what I had been looking for. Destiny had been fulfilled.”

  Ulrich removed one of the maps from the wall, revealing a small hole. He reached inside and pulled the purple crown out. Placing it on his head, he stood tall and turned back to face me.

  “I will bring the red and blacks back to their rightful place at the top of Yaerna’s society,” said Ulrich, his voice brimming with confidence. “All of those that fight us will fall, and soon we will enter a time of prosperity that has never been seen before!”

  “Sorry to cut your dystopian fantasy short, but it ends today,” I said, stretching out my wings and crouching down. “I won’t let you destroy Yaerna.”

  “Don’t worry, Reimar,” said Ulrich, the black half dragon stretching out his own wings. “When I write the history books, I’ll paint you and that elf as people that initially tried to help me, but fell away at the most inopportune time for reasons unknown. You will become a cautionary tale, but one that lives on forever.”

  “Good luck with that,” I said. I shot forward, bringing my claws up.

  Ulrich had been waiting for me to attack and jumped forward with just as much speed. The two of us clashed near the table, bringing our claws together and pushing off one another. I hopped into the air while he backed up, and again I dove at him.

  The black half dragon sidestepped me at the last second, punching at my side as I passed him and sending me into, and through, the table. I rolled back to my feet as quickly as I could, which was just in time for Ulrich to reach me and throw a left hook. I ducked underneath it and spun around, bringing my tail around to trip him. Ulrich jumped over it, kicking me in the back and sending me forward.

  I nearly fell over but regained my footing, lashing out behind me blindly with an open right claw. I guessed correctly and raked the side of Ulrich’s face, causing him to take a few hurried steps back.

  “Got ya!” I smirked.

  “Lucky shot,” spat Ulrich, kicking off and lunging at me. I flew up to avoid him, and the half dragon chased after me. Before I reached the top of the room, Ulrich grabbed the tip of my tail and pulled me back.

  “Let g-”

  Ulrich swung me with all his might into the wall beneath him. I felt a couple of teeth chip against the wall and my nose start to bleed. I had a feeling I wouldn’t be winning any beauty contests that day.

  Before the half dragon could swing me again I slipped out of his grasp and flew back down to the ground. Having all four of the Great Oracle’s gifts with me clearly wasn’t giving me any sort of edge in this fight. Was there some way to combine them all? I didn’t see how. If anything, the stone would probably break the looking glass. I also didn’t think the color of the necklace matched the green dragon mask in a visually appealing way.

  Pain erupted in my back as Ulrich drove his feet into me. The ground exploded with rocks, creating a small crater with my outline in it. Although I had the wind knocked out of me, I managed to buck the half dragon off.

  “You’re still too weak,” laughed Ulrich, leaning over me. “You should’ve known better than to-”

  I sprung off my back and kicked him in the groin. The half dragon doubled over as I scampered to my feet. Getting behind him, I dragged both of my claws across his wings.

  Letting out a roar mixed with frustration and pain, Ulrich spun and jumped up. His knee connected with my jaw, and the world darkened and closed in on me. I collapsed onto my back again, fighting to keep from going unconscious. If I did, I knew I’d never wake up.

  “Nice try, Reimar,” said Ulrich, looking down at me as he fought for breath. “You nearly got me there.”

  The darkness left my eyes, although my head was still spinning. It was becoming obvious to me I wasn’t going to beat Ulrich like this. I needed to try something, anything. I pulled my bag out and started digging around inside of it.

  “What are you doing?” asked the half dragon, still panting. “Is there some sort of secret weapon you’ve been holding onto?”

  I wrapped my hand around exactly what I was looking for.

  “Yah!” I shouted, thrusting Cassandra’s necklace out.

  Nothing happened.

  Ulrich blinked.

  “Um… Are you giving me jewelry?” asked Ulrich, tilting his head to the side. “Is this you begging for your life?”

  “N-No!” I said, chucking it at him. The necklace bounced off of his chest and fell to his feet. Nothing happened. I dug into the bag and pulled out Braun’s stone.

  “Please don’t toss that at me,” said Ulrich, but it was too late. The rock was already in midair and bounced off of him as well. “Really?”

  I pulled the looking glass out next. Ulrich let out an annoyed sigh and grabbed it from me, tossing it behind him. He snatched my bag away and started poking through it.

  “Have I beaten you literally senseless?” asked Ulrich. “Why are you throwing garbage at me in your final moments?”

  “It kinda seems like that, doesn’t it?” I groaned, trying to get into a sitting position. Ulrich kicked me in the face, snapping my head back and keeping me from getting too far up.

  “Hold on,” said Ulrich, his voice full of glee. “What is this?”

  Ulrich pulled out the green dragon mask and waved it in front of me.

  “Just kill me already,” I sighed.

  “No, really,” laughed Ulrich. “Why do you have this? Did you and your friends like to do dress up parties, but you always wanted to make sure they remembered you were a half green dragon?”

  “Trust me, I’ve always thought it was dumb, too,” I mumbled.

  “This seems like as good of a mask for you to die in as any other,” grinned Ulrich. He spun it around and put in on my face. “Now you can die like the jester you always were.”

  My eyes widened under the mask as it started to burn on my face. I pawed at it, trying to get it off. It wasn’t budging.

  “W-What did you do?!” I demanded.

  Ulrich took a half step back, looking just as surprised as I was. “Nothing! Why would you carry a mask that you couldn’t take off?!”

  In addition to the burning on my face, I felt another tingling sensation run through my body. It was hard to explain, but I had felt it plenty of times before.

  It felt like I was transforming.

  Chapter 19

  My teeth that had been cracked grew back, and sharper than ever. Even my claws looked like they had been updated. The cuts and scrapes all over my body closed up, and suddenly I felt like new. I jumped up and took a few steps back as Ulrich watch, a horrified expression on his face. I slowly grew taller, my muscle expanding and making me a bit wider. My back arched, and I felt another set of wings spout.

  “I-I don’t understand,” said Ulrich, his eyes wide. “You… You were struggling to even sit up…”

  I felt the transformation end and I looked down at my body. I was even larger than before, but I somehow felt lighter. Glancing back at my extra pair of wings, I noticed I had even grown a second tail.

  “I’m just as confused,” I said, then immediately covered my mouth. Instead of my usual voice coming out, it was much deeper and gravely. “Is this how I sound now?”

  “That mask,” whispered Ulrich, still shak
ing his head in disbelief. “It had to be that mask! That’s the only thing that changed!”

  “You must be right,” I nodded. I stood up a little straighter and looked off into the distance as a very annoying thought popped into my head. “Wait a minute… That means I could’ve been like this ever since I returned to Durnskeep?!”

  “You’ve has this power all this time and didn’t think to use it?” gasped Ulrich.

  “The thing didn’t exactly come with instructions,” I muttered.

  “How did you get it?” asked Ulrich.

  I hesitated, unsure if I should answer honestly or not.

  “It was the Great Oracle, wasn’t it?” he asked.

  “Maybe…”

  This whole time I assumed the Great Oracle’s gift for me had been an afterthought. Cassandra’s, Braun’s, even Dhot’s had seriously helped us out on a regular basis. Mine had helped me go undetected a couple of times, but any old mask would’ve worked just as well. Arguably, the mask being of a green dragon sort of gave me away, at least to those that knew my secret.

  “Even from the grave the Great Oracle has proven to be a thorn in my side,” hissed Ulrich.

  I felt a smile spread on my face. “About that…”

  “What’s that smirk for?” demanded the half black dragon.

  “The Great Oracle isn’t actually dead,” I explained. “It was all a ploy to make you think you had killed him. He’s been advising us ever since our battle at Jiezvall.”

  Ulrich was shaking in anger now.

  “I should’ve known!” he hissed. “I’ll make sure he pays for what he’s done once I finish you off!”

  Ulrich leapt at me, bringing his claws back. This wasn’t like before, though. It was like the half dragon was moving slightly slower. It clicked with me that it wasn’t him moving slower, but my mind and body somehow moving faster.

  I stepped to the side as his claws breezed past me, avoiding my face by less than an inch. He let out a frustrated hiss and jumped at me again, this time wildly throwing punches and occasionally going for a scratch. I walked back leisurely, avoiding each attack without any issue. I wasn’t even losing my breath.