The dragons would not allow Sane to take the grimoire and if he somehow managed to convince them, then Xander would take it from him or destroy it, but first he must entreat his patron goddess. She would lift this curse and make things right for him.
Xander looked up. The clouds were not much higher. Even at Sane’s slow pace they would break through the cloud cover tomorrow. Soon a new age of magicians would be ushered in and Xander would be at its head.
Chapter 26
It was no surprise that the higher they climbed the colder the magicians got. It was a miserable experience even for Sane with his natural endurance for cold, but Byrn had to surround himself with a manipulationist’s bubble to deflect the wind’s bite. The cloud ceiling loomed ever closer as they approached the top.
“It will not be much longer,” said Sane, trying to fill the silence that had plagued them for most of the morning. “Do you think we will see any dragons?”
Sane had meant it as a joke, but Byrn smiled at him and said, “You never know.”
Gradually the terrain became harder to navigate as the magicians journeyed into the clouds. It was thick like the deepest of fogs and only Byrn’s bubble, that he extended to encompass Sane, was able to push the mists away and reveal the stone at their feet.
It was difficult to measure time as they passed through the mist on an ever upward and often meandering path, but Sane guessed that they spent hours trying to navigate the trail. He wondered if they would ever find their way out when suddenly his head emerged from the cloud cover and the sudden blinding light of the sun forced him to avert his gaze. Its gentle warmth shined on his face and soon his whole body as he fully emerged to the surface. The welcome relief of the sun was almost enough to distract Sane from the shadow that passed over him and the thunderclap that came from just above.
His head swung upward just as a black shape flew over him. He sucked in the rarified air with a gasp as he examined the figure that was now soaring away. It was difficult to judge the creature’s size or its distance away without any points of reference, but it looked to be far larger than anything Sane had ever seen before or would likely see again. Its skin was pitch black in stark contrast to the light blue sky surrounding it and was covered not in lizard-like scales as he imagined, but in what looked to be segmented sheets of ebony armor. It had a tail that stretched out longer than a man was tall and had long, muscular limbs that would allow it to jump great heights. The creature’s head was large enough to snap a man in half with its powerful jaws. Another clap of thunder came and Sane realized that it was caused by the beat of its night colored wings. This was a dragon.
The sight of the dragon filled the sorcerer with awe as he followed its path through the sky and saw dozens of its kin in a myriad of colors not unlike a rainbow. Some were soaring as the black one did while others sat perched on mountaintops. Far, far in the distance was a brightly gleaming object, but they were too far away to make out what it was.
Byrn saw his gaze and gestured to the reflected light. “That is the dragon’s city. It sits atop a vast network of mountain peaks and was crafted from those very mountains by their magic.”
Sane was about to ask how he knew that, but was immediately more interested in a red dragon flying directly at them. In a matter of moments, it was upon them and if it had wished it could have killed them with ease fore Sane was too surprised to mount a defense and Byrn did not even bother to lift his staff.
The red dragon stopped in mid-air and hovered with a steady flapping of its wings before deciding to land just before them. Sane thought that the dragon, he had to make a mental effort not to think of it as a beast though its appearance resembled one, would sink through the clouds and fall below, but its clawed feet found some purchase. Either the mountaintop they stood on extended some distance just underneath the tops of the clouds or the mythical being was somehow standing on top of the clouds themselves. Among any other races such a feat would seem ridiculous, but if he was now looking upon a dragon anything suddenly seemed possible.
“You are… humans,” said the red dragon. Its voice was young and feminine like a girl who had recently come into her womanhood. “I have never seen one of you before,” she displayed a grin that bared her fangs making a face that would have appeared threatening if not for her familial tone. It was then that Sane noticed that her lips did not move when she spoke. Her head jutted forward tentatively and she took a sniff of both magicians before returning to her original position. “I am called Southernstar.”
“And I am Byrn,” said the younger human placing his hand on his chest. Then he waved to the elder magician, “This is Sane.”
“It is… a pleasure,” said Sane.
“Byrn and Sane,” mused Southernstar, tasting their names, “I would know the origins of your names, if you do not mind.” She bowed her head down to eye level.
Byrn and Sane looked at each other and shrugged.
“How odd,” commented Southernstar, “to go through your lives without knowing who you are.”
“Much of human existence revolves around discovering who we are as a people and as individuals,” Sane answered.
“That sounds… messy.”
“It can be,” agreed Byrn.
“If I may be so bold, how is it that you speak without moving your mouth?” asked Sane.
“It is an ancient art of mind to mind communication known as telepathy. All dragons can do it and without it we would not be able to converse. Our throats cannot make the same sounds as yours, nor can your voice make any noise that we would consider our language.
“I would know more of humans, but I doubt you came here just to speak with me.”
“We have come here seeking something,” Sane told her, “It is said to be an ancient grimoire that could help us to defeat an evil man.”
“Evil might be a little harsh,” bristled Byrn, “We all have our reasons for doing what we do.”
“Evil is subjective,” Southernstar nodded, “Eldar’s teachings say that we must be wary of judging our friends too kindly and our foes too harshly.”
“What would you call someone who would destroy all life in Aurelia?”
Southernstar thought on it for a minute before answering. “I do not know of your Aurelia. Perhaps you’re enemy has a valid reason for wanting to destroy it.”
Byrn laughed and Sane shot him a nasty look. “I thought you would take this more seriously. Xander still plans to use you as a weapon somehow.”
“Believe me, I am keenly aware of the situation,” countered Byrn, but he still had to suppress a smile. To Southernstar, he asked, “We seek the black grimoire of Hazer Necros. Can you take us to it?”
“You may not take it,” warned Southernstar. Her words were calm, but she arched her back defensively. “We will not allow the vast knowledge that we have collected over millennia to be taken so that other races may use them to wage war on one another.”
“Perhaps we could just look at it,” suggested Sane.
Southernstar considered the idea although her expression remained impossible to read. Finally, she said, “You may speak with Eldar and he can decide.”
“That sounds like a fine idea,” said Byrn.
“The city is far from here. You may ride in my claws, if you like.”
“Wouldn’t it be safer to ride on your back?” Sane asked innocently, but the red dragon did not care for the idea.
“I am not a…” she searched for the word, “horse. No creature may ride on my back. You may ride in my claws, but no more.”
“I beg your pardon. I meant no disrespect.”
Southernstar bowed her head to one side in acceptance of Sane’s apology. “I would know more of your race if time permits.”
“And I, yours.” Sane smiled.
“Then let us be off to see Eldar.” Southernstar moved between the magicians and sat up. She put one claw in front of each of them and they tried to sit as comfortably as they could as Southernstar closed her talons
around them.
The beat of her wings was nearly deafening as she took to the sky and quickly turned toward the far off dragon city. However, once they were aloft the flap of her wings became more infrequent as they rode on gusts of wind to gain altitude.
Sane tried to ask the city’s name, but found he could not speak out of a heady mixture of fear and exhilaration as thick clouds and snowy mountain peaks passed below. Occasionally there were holes in the cloud canopy and he could see the ground far below in brief glimpses of green and brown. Dragon’s Peak was located in the southeastern region of Aurelia and the mountains extended far beyond the borders of the kingdom. Those mountains, which they flew over now, were believed to be cursed and that was enough to keep most explorers from delving too deep into them, so no one knew just how far they extended. It occurred to Sane that the dragons’ kingdom could be larger than any that existed in the world below.
***
Twilight was upon them and the glittering dragon city of stone and glass known as Grandraco lied just below. Southernstar told them that they had traveled over two hundred miles once they descended. The city, which was just a gleam on the edge of the sorcerer’s vision earlier in the day, now loomed all around him. As they came closer to Grandraco the number of dragons increased dramatically, so that they were now surrounded by the strange, new beings wherever they looked.
Some of the dragons, the larger and older ones, took little notice of the two humans walking among them, as if seeing humans was a normal occurrence, but the smaller ones and, therefore, younger like Southernstar would stop and stare at the little humans as if to marvel at what they were. Sane felt fortunate that none of them had decided to act aggressively towards Byrn or him, because he held little hope in winning a physical confrontation with even the youngest of the magnificent species if he were pressed to do so.
Southernstar led them through the streets pointing out places that she thought might be of interest. There were libraries, museums, temples, and schools, but they lacked other basic structures that human society had grown to rely on especially in large cities.
“Where are the markets, taverns, and inns?” Sane asked at one point.
Southernstar looked at him out of the corner of her eye, but did not stop. Moving at the human’s slow pace, where she only needed to take one step for every half dozen taken by Sane or Byrn must have been annoying, but she showed little sign of it. “What are these things you speak of?”
“They are places where you buy things,” Sane explained. “At a market, you might buy-“ he was about to say clothing, but the dragons wore none. He looked at Southernstar’s claws and knew that she had no need of a weapon. Finally, he settled on, “food.”
“We hunt and farm in the grasslands below us. As you can tell from my teeth, we do not eat vegetation, but we grow it to keep the population of animals healthy so that neither they nor us starve.”
“What about taverns? Where you would go to drink and socialize. Or inns? Where you go to sleep when you have traveled far from home?”
There was silence for a minute while Southernstar tried to guess whether or not the sorcerer was making up these things, but deciding that he was not she answered with a question, “Are humans so frail that they cannot function on their own?” However, her question sounded genuinely curious in Sane’s mind and he chose not to be offended.
“Look at Southernstar’s scales,” said Byrn. “They protect her from the elements, so she has no need of an inn. Like their bodies, their minds are so far ahead of our own that they probably choose to gather in the places of learning and knowledge rather than a tavern to socialize. Since each dragon is self-sufficient they have no need of money either.”
“I can hardly fathom how such a city works where no one needs anything from anyone else,” admitted Sane. This was a place where there was no struggle or strife of any kind. This was an ideal that the noblest of humans held so deep in their hearts that it could form the core of a man’s being, but the feeling that Sane got as he marveled at the city was just how foreign it was from everything that he knew.
They came to a building made of glass that extended many stories into the air. It was not the largest structure in Grandraco, but was no less spectacular for it. It had carvings into the glass of various dragonic figures interspersed with runes that Sane never saw before and he could only guess at what they did. There was no door, like every other structure in the city, and he could see a dark green dragon twice as large as Southernstar lazing about in the reflected dying light of the day.
“This is the home of Eldar, oldest and wisest of the dragons,” Southernstar told them. The reverence in her mental voice was unmistakable.
“Eldar, like elder?” Sane asked. “That is what we call our old, wise men down below.”
“Why does that surprise you? Your people adapted the name from this most ancient of dragons to honor those among you who are considered wise for their experiences.” Southernstar again gave him a toothy smile. “We did not always hold ourselves separate from the other high races, you understand.”
“Let us meet, Eldar,” Byrn cut in, anxious to be on with their business. Unlike Sane, he was remarkably uncurious about the dragons and their world.
They entered the home of Eldar with a human on either side of Southernstar. She stretched her forelegs out and bowed before him and Byrn, followed closely behind by Sane, followed suit by kneeling on one knee. “Greetings, Eldar, I am called Southernstar and I bring before you two human magicians with a request.”
“Rise, Southernstar. We have met before have we not?” Eldar spoke telepathically so that the humans could be included in their conversation. His telepathic voice was deep and almost overpowering in its intensity.
“Yes, we met briefly long ago.” If she could have blushed, Sane thought that she would have. “It is an honor that you remember me.”
Eldar tilted his head to one side and nodded at her. “And who have you brought before me?” he asked, his attention shifting to the miniscule humans.
“I am Byrn and this is my friend, Sane.”
Eldar sniffed at them, first Byrn and then Sane. “I believe we have met before too, Byrn, although you were called something else then. How long has it been?”
Byrn gave a sidelong glance at Sane before answering, looking like he was making up his mind about something. “I think it has been more than two centuries since I last knelt before you. Back then I was known as Hazer Necros.”
“Xander?” Sane’s voice was barely a whisper, but through their mental communication they all heard it.
“Yes,” Xander’s smile curled into a smirk. Sane’s vision had revealed that Xander planned to control Byrn in some manner, but he never would have guessed this.
“What have you done with him?” Sane shouted. He leveled his staff at Xander and sent a wave of icy daggers to impale him, but they hit an invisible wall and fell harmlessly before him. He tried to cast another spell, but found that his body was unable to move. He struggled to lift his arm or even twitch his finger, but it was like powerful hands held every inch of his body in place.
“This is a place of peace,” boomed Eldar. “No violence is permitted in the realm of dragons.”
“Of course, Eldar.” Xander bowed his head. “I only wish to visit the temples and commune with my patron, Kassani, as is my right. However, it seems that my former friend is more intent on fighting. Oh and he wishes to take my old grimoire from one of Grandraco’s libraries back down to the world of man.”
“Visiting the temples is indeed your right,” admitted Eldar, “purchased long ago with the addition of your book to our library.” To Sane he said, “You may not take Hazer Necros’ grimoire. It is far too powerful to be left in the hands of humans, especially one so prone to violence as you are. You will wait here until your friend returns for you.”
“This man is not my friend! He stole the body of another magician and I need that grimoire to help the real Byrn,” said Sane. The g
rips of Eldar’s magic did not loosen around him at all.
“Might we allow him to read from the grimoire as long as he does not take it?” Southernstar suggested. “It is not our way to deny knowledge to those who wish to use it to help others and I believe that this is Sane’s desire.”
“I believe he showed his true nature when he tried to attack me,” interrupted Xander.
“The words of Hazer Necros hold merit. My decision stands.”
Once more Xander bowed down to one knee. “Thank you, Eldar,” he said and left with the ancient dragon’s blessing.
Minutes that felt like hours passed as Sane stood like a statue in Eldar’s magical grip. His mind ran wild as he tried to think of something that might convince the mighty dragon to release him. Furthermore, Learion directed him to find the black grimoire and give it to Byrn. That was not going to be a problem when he thought that Byrn was traveling with him and he could simply read the grimoire while in the dragons’ realm, but now that he knew that Xander was walking around in Byrn’s body he would need to take the grimoire with him and find the true Byrn.
“That is a quandary,” said Southernstar, encroaching on Sane’s thoughts. “Have you tried speaking with… Xander Necros, and trying to sway him to your way of thinking?”
“Xander is very nearly a monster. Among my people I am considered a seer and I recently had a vision where Xander took control of my friend, a very powerful, but young magician, and used his body to wipe out all life in Aurelia. That is where I am from. He has already killed thousands upon thousands of innocent people as an old man and now the first part of my vision has come true. He already has my friend’s body.”
Magician Prince Page 20