***
Around this time, everyone closed in on Crusayla. Albatros, Markus, and Fern had neared the edge of the western forest when the sounds of the Divoxian army reached them. Looking toward the sounds, they glimpsed the massive horde that stood between their position and the kingdom. "Follow the woods to the southern-most point of the wall. We might find a way over it under cover of the forest," Markus said.
Albatros agreed to stay hidden within the forest and attempt Markus’s plan. The walls before the city were shorter than the walls surrounding the country. He imagined climbing a tall tree might get them high enough to jump upon the wall. Overall, he did not see a good outcome to riding closer to danger, but for the sake of Laelliandir, Bella, and possibly Luminear, he went on a little further.
Fern feared for Bella but was about to the point of running far away. The prospect of a dragon was bad, but there were also well over twenty thousand armored soldiers and potential threats. Fern wondered just how they had gotten themselves into this disaster.
Markus, however, did not care about any of the dangers they approached. His only thought was to reach Bella. He would not leave until he found her.
Bella and Laelliandir were not far away either. They had arrived at the point where the great wall connected to the city wall and had climbed down a ladder to reach it. From that point, they followed the path until they found a home within the city tall enough to leap upon. The drop was long, but somehow, they landed upon the roof safely without breaking their legs. From there, they headed toward the only place they knew to go—the black mountain.
***
There was yet one more person just as determined to enter Crusayla, and he would not wait for siege weapons to bring down the gate either. Lonewolf told his soldiers to set up a ladder for him, and while they were busy tearing their way through, he went over. He ordered none to follow but to focus on breaking through the gate. "Bring it down and wait. Do not enter until I give you the order and watch for a surprise attack. I will scope the city myself," Lonewolf instructed his lower ranking captains before his departure.
Five of them were scattered in different locations about the city, all proceeding toward the same destination. Icaz and Luminear would get there first, well before the others. By the time Laelliandir, Bella and Lonewolf made it halfway through the city, Icaz and Luminear reached the western side of the outer castle. Yet, when they approached the rear of the castle, what they saw stopped them in their tracks. Just as Laelliandir had warned, a great white beast lay sleeping, his body blocking almost the entire pass between the steep black cliffs above and the elven palace. Unsuspecting, they almost stumbled upon the head, which was abnormally large.
Icaz let out a high-pitched yelp as Luminear gasped at the sight. Icaz quickly jumped behind Luminear and put one hand over her mouth as he backed them against the castle's back wall. The dragon's head was enormous, nearing the size of a common house. Its body was that of several normal-sized dragons from modern-day Murnia myths. He lay long-wise and stretched out, filling nearly the entire gap between the mountain and the eleven castle.
"Mucklefop! What in Xio’s gwiddling fiddling name is that filth?" Icaz blurted out in horror, as he placed his medallion around Luminear's neck. He was so loud that Luminear had to say something.
"Quiet," she whispered, fearing for both of them.
"My apologies," he replied as he flashed the medallion in her eyes, instructed her to listen, and placed it around her neck, allowing it to rest on her chest. "I've never seen anything like it." He was in awe as he looked over the dragon. "I'm gonna need you to kill it." Luminear, light-headed from the medallion's hold on her, nearly laughed at his response.
"Just blow it up or something. I don't care," he ordered. "It's in the way. Oversized snake."
"I can’t control the power. You understand that. We have to get out of here or go around it," she argued, making Icaz even angrier as he shouted back.
As the two of them carried on their little dispute, the dragon stirred. It breathed heavily and slightly shifted its body. When it moved, it shook the ground and silenced Icaz and Luminear. They watched it in fear and anticipation as it let out a strange loud groan that sounded like crackling thunder then stretched its neck outward. Massive amounts of black smoke came from its nostrils while its eyelids, as large as doors, squinted. The beast was awakening. It needed only to open its eyes to see two trespassers before him.
It was at this moment, all the power within Luminear began to work on its own accord. While she had wished they could vanish out of the beast’s sight, she had expected nothing so unusual to transpire. Apparently, the gift within her had a mind of its own and asserted itself to defend them. A warm light aura surrounded them, and they vanished. Icaz noticed first as he realized Luminear could not be seen, but as he felt around, he still had his hand partially over her mouth.
"What?" he asked as he stared at his own body and realized it too was invisible. Whatever force was in Luminear had made them disappear, and it was more than a trick of the eye. By her power, they ceased to exist in the realm of the living. No other person could sense their presence as they had no scent and could not be felt by any other than themselves. So when the dragon's eye flared open in a suspicious rage, he detected nothing.
"Ahh!" Icaz squealed in horror at the beast’s awakening, while Luminear's heart skipped a few beats. The dragon heard them not. He sensed a threat all around him, and he was aware something was near. The secret that was his sole responsibility to defend was in perilous danger.
Chapter Seven
A Bitter End
Moments ticked by as Icaz remained standing against the castle wall with his hands over Luminear's mouth. Still unseen by the white dragon, they watched as it prowled the area with its sleepy eyes. Icaz needn’t have worried about Luminear making a sound. Even if the medallion around her neck did not hold her in its spell, she dared not alert such a monstrous creature. She watched it in fear while Icaz experienced a range of emotions somewhere between delight, curiosity, and horror.
The beast raised its head from its deep sleep and extended his enormous long neck to peer around. After three-thousand years of slumber, it took the dragon a few moments to remember his purpose. Only one thing could waken him, and he sensed a presence that intended to undo the ancient spell that lingered upon the black mountains.
The dragon’s ears twitched at the sounds of siege weapons in the far distance. He sprawled out his razor-sharp claws. There were no elves here. He smelled the scents they had left behind, but what he sniffed mostly now were mortals, and he perceived a growing danger seeping in all around him. The elves had failed to defend the secret of the mountain.
No others had been allowed to live near the mountain. Anyone and anything that came into proximity would experience his wrath. He raised his front legs to stand, and the ground trembled under his might. Up he rose to his feet, casting a dark shadow over everything under him. He pushed his head between towers of the elven keep and found the city vacant. The walls kept it secure, but mortals battered the gate to invade his territory. They were loud and dangerous. The dragon rose its colossal head high and gave out a shriek so horrendous it echoed in the air bringing pain to any that heard his cries.
The Divoxian horde fell silent as the sound filled the air like nothing heard before. Most grabbed their ears in pain while some ran away from the sound petrified. Laelliandir and Bella had just dropped from the city wall upon a house’s rooftop when the sound ripped their ears like a knife. At that moment, the dragon shoved off the ground and boosted itself into the air. His wings were colossal, and his body a juggernaut. He pummeled in between two towers as he took to the sky, bringing down the stone structures easily with but a flap of his deadly wings. As the towers crumbled and fell toward the city, the dragon swooped down into the kingdom’s streets ripping anything in his path, as he bellowed in fury.
Headfirst it soared down toward the gates of the inner city, and using his h
ead as a battering ram, he collided into it. Without effort, the white defender destroyed the gate and a large chunk of the wall as it crumbled down upon the golden host below. He then rose high into the air and fluttered into the heavens.
From the ground, everyone who looked up at the menacing dragon was horrified, realizing what they were up against. Hundreds already lie under the walls dead, and it had only taken a moment to cause such havoc. They watched the beast fly higher and higher until finally it stopped and looked down upon them all. They were but rats to his might. Vermin that needed to die. He glowered at the golden host before screeching out once again and bringing his powerful body soaring directly toward them all. Scattering soldiers filled the entire field before the kingdom, fleeing for their lives. None dared fight this being. That would be no battle, but a holocaust.
Within the city, Bella and Laelliandir became separated. Between the falling of towers and rubble from the collapsed wall, the house where they stood had been obliterated. Bella plunged then rolled into the street alongside the shredded remains of the house. Laelliandir experienced a similar fate, but he crashed through the window of another nearby home.
Bella had the wind knocked out of her, and her body ached, but she would live. She laid in the streets unmoving for a few minutes, momentarily forgetting where she was. She was numb aside from the painful ringing in her ears, and she could not make sense of what she observed. As she stared off within the rubble, she saw a white beast ripping through the air bringing down any unfortunate mortal in his path. Is this real? She wondered. Then she saw another person in the distance running up the street.
Despite her blurred vision, she could tell it was a man. Random pieces of wood and roofing rested all over her as she slowly tried to force herself up. As she knocked the debris off her body, she realized the man coming up the street in such a hurry was none other than Lonewolf. The sight of him triggered her memory. She remembered where she was, and although she hadn’t recalled the white beast, she recognized Lonewolf immediately. As she pushed her way through the wreckage, Lonewolf came closer. She could tell he had not expected to cross paths with her on his way to find Icaz and Luminear.
"Stop right there," Bella screamed as she rose to her feet and withdrew her sword. Lonewolf came to a stop about ten feet away from her. His expression was guilt-ridden and almost fearful. He looked upon Bella as if he had seen a ghost. Bella pointed her sword at him and glared. "Where is Luminear, you sard?"
"Bella, I can explain all of this," Lonewolf began, although he doubted his own words.
"Where is she, Wolf?" Bella shouted.
"I don't know. If they're here, then they are beyond the castle, in the shadow of the mountain. I swear. I can't be certain. I was on the way there myself."
"I'm sure you were. You have been in on whatever this is since the start. You sarding liar! How dare you! Who do you think you are? Why?" Bella screamed at him, giving him no time to answer her questions. "Are you going to tell me you're a victim too? Someone forced you to do this. A victim to that damned piece of filth memory-erasing orb? We trusted you!" Lonewolf nodded, and he put his hands up in surrender.
"Bell. This isn't the time. This surely isn't the place. I'll explain everything if you give me-" Before he finished his thought, Bella jolted forward and ran her sword through his gut. Lonewolf stared at her in aching surprise. Bella spat in his face before using her foot to kick him to the ground.
"There will be no time. I told you if I had been that elf woman, I'd stick you and leave you for dead. You deserve no more chances. You are nothing to me! There is not a bone in my body that doesn't despise you, you sarding filth," Bella ended her diatribe with a kick to his ribs. Lonewolf lay there holding his stomach in pain. He knew she was right. He deserved it.
"I never meant to-"
"Save it. Nothing you can say will change what you did. To think when Lumi and I were young, we feared Icaz and trusted you to protect us. You are much worse than Icaz. You are far worse than the High King. At least they were both insane, but you. You are just wicked because you enjoy it. You're sick. I hope you enjoy a slow death," Bella taunted him before slamming her boot into his side again. As he hollered in pain, she turned toward the castle. "I will get my sister away from all of this once and for all. Whatever you were doing here, know you failed. I hope it was worth it," she said as she took off down the road.
Lonewolf lay there alone and bleeding as he stared down at his oozing gut. This is not good, he thought, as he laid back upon the ground and stared at the sky. He wasn't sure if he cared about his wound. Bella hated him. He’d betrayed and destroyed Luminear, and his best friend was a maniac, while he, himself, was a murderer and a dangerous manipulator. You're right, and you're wrong, Bell. I enjoy the thrill, but I don't enjoy the results. I am sick. It's who I am. Lonewolf thought as he watched the skies grow dark and the winds pick up. He remembered what Zynoa had told him, and it made him smile inwardly.
You have the potential to be a great man, Wolf. A hero. Or you could be a terrible man. Capable of great deeds, whether for good or for bad, but it is up to you to decide who you want to be. You walk a fine line, and your morality is cracking. Like broken glass that needs but a tap to break into hundreds of pieces, or it could be mended. Don't take the dark road, or you may find you're unable to return. Lonewolf was glad Zynoa had not lived to see how it all turned out.
"No, Bell. I'm not a good man," Lonewolf said as he pushed himself up and forced his shirt over his shoulders. "A good man would accept his fate." He tore his shirt. "I will not die like this. I will see this out until the end. I've come too far." He shoved himself to his feet as he groaned out in pain and tied his shirt around his wound to cease the bleeding. "Too damn far to die bleeding out!" Lonewolf screamed out like a maniac, and an angry one.
"No. It's far better than you deserve." The sound of Laelliandir's voice came from behind Lonewolf. He didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. He smiled at the irony and sighed before turning around to face him. Laelliandir had regained consciousness with the help of Markus and Fern who stood by his side.
"This is just wonderful. Sarding fantastic!" Lonewolf laughed. "What are the odds? Luck goes bad quick."
"Where is Bella?" Markus demanded.
Lonewolf rolled his eyes and tossed his head back, showing where she had fled. "That way. The mountain. Do I win a prize?" Lonewolf joked, realizing that his good fortune had finally run dry. Markus drew his sword as he jogged in Bella’s direction while keeping his eye on Lonewolf.
"Go ahead. I'll catch up," Laelliandir instructed. Fern also joined Markus.
"Don't trust him," Markus warned, glaring at Lonewolf as he ran past him. Lonewolf gave him and Fern a wave and a plastic smile.
"Don't worry, Markus. Nobody is that foolish," Lonewolf said. After they passed him, he returned his gaze to Laelliandir, who drew his sword and calmly waited for Lonewolf to make a move.
"Still the white knight. Your bad luck sure didn't change you much," Lonewolf chuckled, as he stood there with one hand around his gut, and his other hand dangling to his side. He had a belt filled with weapons, but he didn't bother withdrawing them. His sword hung by his side, while darts, daggers, and his black reed remained latched into several slots along his bulky leather belt.
"I'm not the same man I was. I have you to thank for that."
"It was never personal, Laelliandir. You were a piece I needed to get to where I was going. Simple as that. I meant what I said back in Magwhen. I have always liked you, and I respect you."
Laelliandir shook his head. "You have a strange sense of respect. You ruined Bell and Lumi. You slaughtered my entire family. For what? For this?" asked Laelliandir as he looked around the kingdom. Dark clouds had devoured the sky, and the winds rolled in with such power the two men fought to stay balanced and on their feet. In the distance were the sounds of screaming men and the horrific shrieks of the white dragon. The ground was trembling at every step the dragon took as i
t ripped into the soldiers. "What is this, Wolf?"
Lonewolf shrugged. "I don't know. You have me missing my own party. Are we going to fight? I don't have time for this lecture on justice."
"Oh, is that so?" asked Laelliandir.
Lonewolf smiled and shook his head. "That's how you won't change. You expect to come here and explain how I'm wrong, and how you are right. You want my apologies. You don't change. I don't change. Nothing really changes. People don't change. You won't leave until we draw arms, and you sentence me to death with your sword. Cut to the end and let us have at it." Lonewolf said. I’m done with this fool, he thought and reached for his poisonous reed. Yet, by the time his quick hand reached for it, he felt a prick in his torso. He looked down to see a feathered dart sticking into his chest. "What the?" he asked as he looked up at Laelliandir.
Laelliandir stood before him, holding a similar bamboo reed hanging from his lips. Lonewolf understood what had happened in that instant. "You didn't," he got out before his vocal cords shut down. His body stiffened as he collapsed to the ground staring at Laelliandir.
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