by TJ Reynolds
Gael nodded and Ganna looked down at her still-empty plate.
Ban sighed and rubbed his temples with long, bluish fingers. “I rather like the place,” he said in little more than a whisper. “We worked so very hard, and the new core room needs to be greatly improved, but… I don’t know. Kai, what do you think?”
Holding up his hands, Kai said, “Sorry, Ban, but I think this has to be your decision. We could make a new dungeon of our own deep in the mountain if you’d like. Or we could even—“
“Restore your father’s!” Ban blurted out. “Say! That might be quite an adventure!” The champion stood up, hands on the table. He sputtered briefly, and then continued his thought process. “Kai, if you are to be the Fundamental Dragon, what better place to reside? I rather like the idea now that I think about it.”
Ban suddenly became aware of his posture.
He sat back down and cleared his throat. “Sorry, I quite lost myself. Kai, are you certain you are okay with moving?”
Kai nodded. If it came down to it, he’d prefer the bright mountain to this chasm, beautiful though it was.
“Then it is decided,” Ban said with certainty. “Tirale may have her dungeon back. As long as she keeps the plants around the rim of the chasm, that is.”
Gael clapped his hands loudly. Blushing, he explained his enthusiasm. “Sorry, it’s just that Atros mentioned how lovely it was that you restored the hanging gardens. Once, the Sunken Keep was host to a diverse variety of plants, taken from all across Anvar.”
“I can’t wait to speak with her,” Ban said. “I wonder, do you think she would—“
Suddenly, the Earth Core’s champion fell silent. His mouth hung slack, and his eyes bulged. Ban looked to Kai.
In a grave voice, he said, “It’s Jakodi. He is calling for you.”
Kai stood up and swallowed hard. “I…” he managed before Rhona stepped in for him.
“Go, Kai. We understand. Go at once.”
He smiled nervously to the Surtirs, and then took off at a brisk walk.
Kai opened Jakodi’s door soon after and stepped inside. The old man was still lying down, but his eyes were open.
Strangely, they were glowing faintly, but not with the brilliant white of the Holy ether the wizard commanded.
His eyes shone gold instead.
Kai’s thoughts shot to the Gold Mind technique Rhona had described so often in the past, and then to his own elemental affinity.
Lumen possessed a fullness that the stark white of Holy lacked. Kai would recognize it anywhere.
He knelt beside the old man’s bed and took up his hand.
“Kai, I have a few things to say to you and a gift as well,” Jakodi said in a whisper. “Then I must leave this place.”
Kai shook his head. A pang of grief stabbed his heart. “But you weren’t injured! Can’t we heal you somehow?”
“I am not dying, young man. I have served my purpose and am ascending once more. Consider me the most fortunate man in Anvar.”
“Ascending?” Kai asked, his thoughts spinning. “To… you’re ascending to Lumen?”
Jakodi nodded. “The last time I saw Veldane, the man was Cobalt ascended. He worked hard over the years. When he confronted you, he was Indigo 1.
“But I paid prices he would not consider. I became Violet ascended some fifteen years after the Dragon Wars by giving more of myself than a man like Veldane ever would.
“To ascend beyond Violet requires the gods themselves to accept you.” Jakodi’s lips curled up in a smile. “Apparently, my sacrifice on the battlefield proved my worthiness.”
Kai shook his head. “Sacrifice? What do you mean? You just cast a spell, didn’t you?”
“I ruptured my core to do so. Veldane had bound himself to this world too thoroughly to be destroyed in any other way…” The wizard’s words trailed off briefly. Then he turned and stared into Kai’s eyes. Still smiling, he said, “Some spells, as you well know, require sacrifice.”
Kai’s hands shook and a hot tear burned down his cheek. The old man was referring to the method with which Kai needed to defeat the Gil’Rahim, the monsters from the abyss.
Desperate to preserve the life he longed for, Kai had to ask, “Is there no other way? There’s so much left to do, Jakodi. Ban’s new dungeon, the dragons, and…”
“And Rhona,” Jakodi added with all the wisdom of a man his age. He squeezed Kai’s hand and chuckled softly. “That is the first thing I came back to tell you. Rhona is waiting for you, Kai. Do not hesitate any longer.
“The second concerns your fate.”
Kai waited on Jakodi’s words hopefully.
Jakodi took a breath of air and his grip weakened. The golden light in his eyes became brighter, and for an instant, Kai thought he was slipping away.
Eyes now vacant, Jakodi tapped Kai’s palm weakly with two fingers. “Lumen contains all other elements. It is yours, Kai. It is yours to… command.”
Jakodi released his final breath, and his eyes slowly faded. Before they went dark, Kai heard a voice in his mind whispering, Guard this well, Kaius, and tell Rhona I will see her in the golden halls beyond.
Then the old man who’d been Kai’s friend ever since their meeting in Mindonne was gone.
Jakodi’s robes collapsed, the blankets falling flat as the wizard’s body vanished.
Even as Kai stood up and gasped, a weight settled in his hand. Kai looked down and found a stone resting there, warm and faintly glowing.
Eyes burning with tears, placed the stone in his pocket and then called out to Rhona and Ban.
He is gone, Kai said plainly. Jakodi has left this world.
26
The Bounty of Friendship
Rhona
Dipping her hands back in the stream, Rhona splashed Honor’s back yet again. She walked over to the horse and smoothed the water droplets into his coat.
This was one of his favorite ways to cool off.
Over the years, she’d done so countless times.
She took her time and enjoyed the brief respite from the march.
Rhona leaned down to fill her hands again when the horse suddenly turned. His rear leg smacked her in the backside and sent her splashing into the shallows of the river.
The frigid water swallowed her up, and Rhona burst out gasping. “Excuse me? I take my time to cool you off, and this is how you treat me?”
Honor nickered, lifting his front hoof and striking the water’s surface twice in quick succession. Then he lowered his head and drank as if nothing at all had happened.
Rhona couldn’t find it in herself to be angry with him.
Though she’d been riding in the vanguard, her face and clothes were still covered in dust by the time the column had stopped to rest. She’d been sweaty and a little cross, and now that she had an excuse, Rhona fell back in the river again.
“Don’t think this is permission, Honor—you try that again, and no apples for a week,” she threatened, scrubbing her face and letting her braid soak up the river water.
A few soldiers huddled nearby glared in her direction. They were filling up waterskins, and she’d no doubt just muddied the water.
She ignored them completely.
Standing up again, Rhona let the water drain off of her as she saddled Honor. When she finished, she let her boots dry in the sun and had a snack.
Honor trudged up out of the river after her.
She stroked his gleaming coat and kissed him on the side of his face. “You’re lucky I’m nice to you. Don’t you forget it, now.”
Opening her pack, she took out a carrot and three apples.
She fed Honor the carrot first and then two apples, keeping the third for herself.
Then she leaned against him and crunched away, giving the beast the core when she’d finished. Soon, the march resumed, and Rhona mounted up again.
The two fell in behind the vanguard, and her thoughts drifted to Jakodi. She’d tried several times already to find her master
in meditation. But The Halls of the Pristine Mind had eluded her ever since the battle.
Rhona had no fear of never attaining that mindset again, but it would require some peace of mind.
Sadness still weighed her down.
“What do you think, Honor? What’s the old man up to right about now? I’m thinking he’s sitting under a fine tree, barefooted, lost in a daydream.”
Honor tossed back his head and hopped forward a few paces.
She laughed at his display. “You agree, then? Good,” she said quietly, the breeze cooling the back of her neck. “Good.”
Rhona was about to close her eyes and meditate again when a soldier fell in beside her on horseback. “Are you Miss Rhona? Miss Rhona Bloodspar?”
“I am,” she replied, a bit startled.
“The Lady Ganna wishes to speak with you. She’s riding at the front of the vanguard. Will you join me?”
“Do I have a choice?” she joked.
The man looked confused and uncomfortable.
“Sorry, I just… Yes, of course I will. Lead the way!”
They galloped up along the vanguard toward the head of the column. The army was traveling in two large groups. The first, on horseback, was making quick time toward the capital. The second, largely consisting of the defeated troops the nobles had sent from Arba, lagged behind.
Gael and Ganna had made the decision for obvious reasons.
The two were about to return to Arba for the first time since their family’s slaughter. With no opposing forces present other than a meager garrison, the capital would be theirs for the taking.
Rhona found a gap beside the Lady Ganna and bid the soldier farewell. He rode off, and Rhona smiled politely to the young woman who’d summoned her. “Nice day for a ride, Lady Ganna?” Rhona offered.
The young woman scoffed. “I’m wearing plate armor, Rhona. It is a horrible day for a ride. And please, call me Ganna until we arrive in Arba… if that’s okay with you, at least.”
Rhona sensed some degree of vulnerability in the woman’s hesitation.
Ganna was unsure about her new station, more so than Rhona would be. It made Rhona have more compassion for her. What it would be like to grow up in hiding and then suddenly emerge to reclaim political power was beyond anything she’d experienced in life.
Rolling her eyes dramatically, Rhona sighed. “I’m not the only one who’s dying in the heat, then. If we’re at this much longer I’ll smell worse than Honor here.”
Ganna laughed and gestured to the war horse. “Fine mount for a monk. Why is it that one who walks the Path of the Bleeding Tiger needs a war horse?”
“I served in the Brintoshi army for many years. I switched from infantry to cavalry partway through. After leaving service, I took the one thing that mattered most to me. He’s been stubborn and faithful ever since.”
“Incredible. My brother and I have been so sheltered. Don’t get me wrong—we had every advantage, a tutor for a dozen different subjects. But we never left the safety of the estate… not once.”
Rhona empathized with the woman. She hated the idea of being held down by circumstances.
She realized something then, something that she hadn’t been able to identify before now. “How do you speak Brintoshi so well? Most of the Hintari I’ve met speak both languages, but they all had thick accents.”
Ganna smiled, and a brief shadow of sadness filled her eyes. “My master of arms was a retired Brintoshi colonel. A long-time friend of the family. The old man served Brintosh bravely up until the War of Dragons. Then he deserted, unwilling to slaughter so many without just cause.”
“Sounds like a good man,” Rhona said.
“He was. Perhaps even as good as this Jakodi so many keep talking about.” The woman shook her head, brow knitting. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am that Veldane has fallen.
“Atros came with us expressly to face the wizard, though I do not think he would have prevailed. The old dragon is Cobalt ascended, but rumor said that Veldane surpassed even that.”
Rhona sighed, the loss of Jakodi filling her body and soul yet again. It wasn’t exactly despair, but a pervasive ache at the friend she’d only just begun to know and understand.
Ganna apologized for the reminder. “There is another matter to discuss, however. One that might ease the pain of that particular loss.”
“Oh? What do you mean?”
The woman arched an eyebrow and smiled. She looked both beautiful and deadly in her suit of polished armor, and Rhona found more and more that she liked the Lady Surtir.
“Long ago, Brintosh used only monks in their armies. They switched to modern warfare, as did the other two kingdoms. Though it would be hard to replace mounted knights with robed monks, it is impossible to deny that loss.”
Rhona sighed. “I couldn’t agree more. And Jakodi was one of the few masters left in Anvar.”
Ganna’s grin widened. “My brother and I think there is room for great change. I’ve already spoken with Kai about this, though briefly. Gael and I think there should be a fourth kingdom, that of the Earth Cores and dragons.
“You see, Hintar was targeted because of its alliance with the dragons. If the three kingdoms respect the Earth Cores and their dragons, perhaps a more balanced future can be found.”
Rhona nodded, appreciating the idea. Still, she didn’t know where she fit in all of this. “Why talk to me? I’m just a monk who’s fallen for a dragon and his silly Earth Core.”
Ganna laughed. “I wanted to ask about that, too. Kai is as handsome as they come and kind as well.”
“Maybe, Ganna, maybe… but you’ve not answered my question. I didn’t ask what you thought of Kai.”
“True enough,” Ganna admitted. “To the point, then. Gael and I thought it fitting that the Earth Cores and dragons should have warriors of their own. Who better to trust than monks? It is true, isn’t it, that monks can only use violence in defense of others?”
Rhona arched an eyebrow. “It is. That… that would be a very interesting idea.”
“And who better to train this new order of monks than one who’d learned from Jakodi himself?”
The full implication of Ganna’s idea struck Rhona like a war hammer. She opened her mouth and then closed it again.
She rode in silence for a time, unsure of what to say. Such a position should be filled by an ancient master, like the woman at the sea cave, or Jakodi.
In the stillness of her core, she knew what her answer would be, however.
What would Jakodi want? What of Palben, wherever he might be? What of the thousands of soldiers who’d joined the army not to kill or gain fame and glory, but to protect those they loved?
After all she’d gone through, Rhona could admit there was a place in this world for soldiers as well as monks.
The only thing that seemed tragic was that one of those callings had all but been snuffed out.
Finally, Rhona answered. “I don’t at all feel worthy to do so, Ganna… but if no one else will step in to that role, I’ll do my best.”
“Good!” Ganna said with a smile. “That’s what I’d been hoping to hear.”
The Lady Surtir glanced forward and back, and then all around. Leaning closer, she asked in a conspiratorial voice, “Come now, Rhona, surely you’ve thought long and hard about the new Fundamental Dragon… has Kai not made an impression on your heart?”
Rhona laughed loud enough to draw a few looks, and Honor flicked his tail in annoyance.
She eyed Ganna from the corner of her eye and shook her head. Then, helplessly bored from endless travel and having no other friends to speak to, Rhona opened up and told Ganna much more than she ever intended.
And each shared word took a piece of the burden that had weighed so long on her heart.
27
Oh, What Sweet Agony
Kai
Strange couldn’t come close to describing the events that unfolded when the force arrived in Arba.
Six dragon
s and a host of cavalry had rode up to the gates. The garrison had panicked, but Kai and his dragons landed atop the walls before the terrified soldiers had even begun to seal off the city.
Troops were sent flying throughout Arba, and a force of some three hundred knights were assembled in defense of the nobles who ruled.
But Gael and Ganna acted quickly.
They’d convinced the captain of the guard they had no intention of burning Arba to the ground. They were simply the rightful rulers of Hintar.
After the garrison had chosen sides, the nobles were dragged out into the streets and executed on the spot. Then the Surtir were awarded stewardship of Arba, and the twins elected new members of the council to rule with them that very day.
Ever since, Kai and his dragons had spent their days flying about the countryside to keep themselves busy.
Atros had even taken them all to see the Eastern Ocean. The trip had been everything Kai might have imagined if it weren’t for Freya taking it upon herself to hunt a whale.
The huge beast didn’t at all appreciate being attacked, and, as it turned out, it had a high enough ascension to foul Freya’s interest.
Finally, the banquet would be held in which Ganna and Gael would be pronounced official rulers of Hintar. Kai wasn’t looking forward to the formal occasion, but he was relieved at the thought of having it done and over with.
They were set to leave the following day, when they would return to the Sunken Keep and hand over the dungeon to Tirale.
Kai stared at himself in the mirror of his opulent room. He could hardly recognize himself from the lanky youth he’d been just a year ago.
No sense putting it off, Kai, he told himself. Just see to it, damn you. There’s no point in waiting any longer.
He walked over and locked the door to his room, then sat down in the center of the plush rug. He pulled out the stone Jakodi had given him and examined it once more.
Stone of Elements
Quality: Mythic
Properties: Concealed. Bond with core to unlock stone’s potential