A Child of Two Worlds

by Mark Cole

  Alex rose unsteadily to his feet. “I am. Alex Zane,” he said offering his hand.

  The Dwarf clasped forearms with the man. “Brahm Ironfist, Captain o’ the Guard. We could use yer help, Guardian. Yers too, Nexus. Fill yer stomachs, and meet me in the arm’ry in a half hour. Magda’ll show ye the way. There’s some human-sized armor that should fit ye two.” He turned to leave. “Bring yer cat,” he called over his shoulder.

  Alex snorted as Caitlyn growled at the Dwarf’s back. She glared at Alex.

  Alex and Terra pulled on their boots when Magda said it was time. Caitlyn was already pacing back and forth in her panther form. Alex held the sheathed Guardian’s Blade in his hand with the leather baldric wrapped around it.

  “I apologize for the deception, Magda, but we wanted to come and go without much notice,” Terra said to the dwarven woman in front of them. Magda looked much like her older brother, only without a beard and with features that seemed to have been chiseled from a slightly softer piece of granite. A gray waist length braid swung back and forth as she walked.

  “I knew ye from the first, Nexus. But, I was no’ going to say so since ye seemed like ye did no’ want to be recognized.”

  Terra laughed ruefully and shook her head. “Well,” Alex said, “It doesn’t look like hiding would do us any good now anyway.”

  “Got that right,” Caitlyn muttered.

  The four of them walked down halls and across great rooms that all seemed to have been carved from the volcanic rock. Some of the halls curved one way or another, following the path that the natural lava vents had made, Alex suspected.

  Dwarves ran past them going both ways carrying weapons, armor, and various other supplies. A glance out of one of the windows stole Alex’s breath, but as fast as the view came, it was gone.

  Magda turned down a hallway that was full of dwarves outfitted in studded leather, chain, and platemail. They carried war axes, mauls, halberds, crossbows, and a number of other weapons. Dwarves paused and looked at them as they passed. Whispers of “Nexus,” and “Guardian,” followed them as they entered the armory.

  The ring of metal on metal and shouts of dwarves filled the bustling armory. It looked as if the room was full of organized chaos with all of the shouts and dwarves running to and fro.

  “Good,” Brahm said. “Ye’re here.” The Dwarf was already outfitted the same as he was when Terra had seen him in the tunnels earlier in the day. He pulled on his ornately worked gauntlets and gestured at two piles of equipment he had stacked behind himself.

  “Bloody demons’re quick. We’ve abou’ a hour an’ a half ‘til they’re here. Magda, take the Nexus’s armor an’ get ‘er ready. Ye’re with me, boy.”

  Alex and Terra squeezed each other’s hands. “See you soon,” he said. She nodded and beckoned Caitlyn to follow as Magda lifted the smaller pile and led the way deeper into the armory. Alex stood still as Brahm eyed him from head to toe.

  “Will no’ be a perfect fit,” the grizzled Dwarf said. “It’ll be bloody close though.”

  Alex looked at the pile of platemail dubiously. “I’ve never worn heavy plate before, Captain Ironfist. I’m not used to wearing any armor to be honest; it restricts movement.”

  Brahm grunted. “Ye’ll no’ wear heavy plate today either.” The Dwarf tossed the breastplate. Alex caught it and was surprised that it weighed no more than a heavy coat.

  “It be thorium, strong an’ light. As fer restrictin’ yer movement, ye’ll just have to get used to it. Quick. The inside be lined with paddin’, so ye won’t have to worry ‘bout it pinchin’ yer skin with no tunic on underneath. Let’s get ye suited up.”

  The hinged thorium plates clamped over his body quickly, but they were loose, having been made for a man larger than himself. After only a few minutes, Alex was covered from his neck down in armor. A simple helm, free of any adornment, rested on the bench behind him. The Guardian’s Blade was in its scabbard at his hip. Individually, everything was light, but together it weighed down on him in his weakened state.

  Alex lifted a thorium bastard sword from a rack of swords made for humans. “I need a hanger for this sword.”

  Brahm lifted an eyebrow, but he grabbed a hanger from a pile and clamped it to the back of the breastplate. Alex placed the sword on it and picked up the helmet. He placed it on his head and swore softly. It did a good job of covering his face and head, but the narrow eye slit cut off most of his vision.

  “What’s wrong?” Terra asked beside him. Alex turned, and his mouth dropped open at the sight of her.

  Terra wore armor similar to his, except hers had multiple segmented plates and was molded to her like a second skin, accentuating every curve of her body. She wore no helmet, he couldn’t help but notice. Her long red hair spilled down the back of her breastplate. She looked regal in the polished thorium plate. She looked like a warrior queen, except she carried no weapon.

  Terra laughed softly when he pointed that out. “If it comes down to me needing a weapon, something has gone very wrong. But don’t worry,” she did something with her hand and a spike slid out of the bottom of the bracer below her wrist. “I’m always prepared.”

  “This armor is a bit large,” he said answering her original question. “And the helmet cuts off too much of my vision.”

  She nodded, and he felt the caress of magic. “It is too big,” she said after a short amount of time. “And it won’t help your sword fighting. Hold still,” she said, grabbing the pauldrons of his armor. The metal warmed and began to form itself to his body. The eye slit in his helmet opened wider and a nose guard slid down the opening. The helmet split open and slid open to his cheekbones. She released him, and the metal cooled.

  He took the helmet off and looked at it. The eye slit now went back almost to his temples and was tall enough to not obstruct his vision at all. His breastplate had split into multiple sections just like Terra’s and didn’t reduce his range of motion nearly as much as it had. The symbol of the Nine Realms was etched onto the front of his armor as well.

  “What did you do?” Alex asked.

  Terra smiled. “You are wearing refined thorium armor. All I did was enchant it to fit you more comfortably and be a bit more durable. Refined thorium amplifies magical enchantments, so it doesn’t take long to imbue it with magic. I did the same with mine.”

  “Is there unrefined thorium armor?”

  “There is,” Brahm said. “It’s black. Makes ye’ stronger. An’ can only be worn by dwarves.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “It’ll make anyone else sick to wear it,” Terra said. “It does amplify strength at least two-fold, but the person wearing it will slowly get weaker over time. Their life force will drain away.”

  Alex nodded in thought. “Wait, isn’t thorium radioactive?” Terra and Brahm looked at each other and shrugged. “Never mind,” Alex muttered.

  Terra gave him another inspection. She looked pointedly at the hilt sticking up above his shoulder. “Alex,” she began.

  “I’m not going to risk losing control again,” Alex interrupted. His tone was flat and would brook no argument.

  “We need to get moving,” Brahm and Caitlyn said at the same time. The two glowered at each other.

  “Ye three’ll be with meself an’ the king,” Brahm continued. He led them out through the other end of the armory. A pair of dwarves were handing out crossbows through a window to a line of soldiers in armor. Another pair were loading five foot ballista bolts onto a lift to be taken to the roof of the citadel. The armory was emptying as dwarves took their positions, but it was still full of noise and bustling dwarves.

  They exited through two doors at the opposite end of the armory from where they had come in, and the full view of Adorac Volcano Proper took Alex’s breath away. The entire volcano was hollow. It was at least five miles across in a roughly circular shape, and the opening at the top was too far for Alex to venture a guess to the height.

  The Citadel took up a large
amount of the eastern wall. Caves, some with openings too square to be natural, riddled the walls of the cavernous volcano.

  A multi-tiered plateau stuck up from the middle of the volcano. They mounted a gondola that ran from the Citadel to the top of the raised area at a surprisingly fast pace. As they gained altitude, Alex saw another sight that made him gasp in disbelief.

  On the far side of the volcano, opposite the citadel, a blazing orange waterfall poured down from high on the wall. It took a second for Alex to realize that it wasn’t water, but liquid magma. It fell hundreds of feet to crash into a lake of molten stone. A bridge made of something that would not melt from the heat crossed the lake and disappeared onto the other side of the lava flow.

  “What is that?” Alex shouted over the rush of wind from the gondola.

  “Adorac Falls,” Brahm shouted back. “Bridge’s been here longer than the dwarves or the Changelings o’ the Scale. We do no’ know what’s on the other side.”

  As the plateau grew closer, Alex could make out what looked like ballistae running in a spiral along a path that circled the pillar of stone. There were also large, gated openings along the base of the plateau. They drew to the top of the plateau, and a warm breeze from the lava falls blew across the flat top.

  Opening the gate, Brahm led them to a Dwarf clad in gold and thorium plate. The numerous scars crisscrossing his face stood out in a stark contrast to the unblemished golden crown on his head.

  Next to him stood a very tall muscular man with jaw length black hair wearing blood-red pants. Alex missed a step when he saw the man’s red eyes had vertically slit pupils. He has to be a changeling, he thought. He’s at least seven and a half feet tall with huge muscles. Alex shook his head trying to clear out the impression that he had seen the changeling before.

  The Dwarf and huge changeling stood next to a bank of brass speaking tubes that ran into the ground.

  Alex’s eyes almost rolled out of his head when the Dwarf, King Eagon Harbronn, and the changeling, Lord Bahamut, knelt to Terra. She inclined her head and said, “Rise. Know, we did not intend to bring a fight to your doorstep, if it is us they are after.”

  “Bah,” the king said in a voice even more gravelly than Brahm’s. “Azreal did bring this fight five years ago. It do warm me heart to see ye alive an’ well, Nexus, even in these circumstances.” A warm smile crossed his face.

  “I am glad to see you too, King Eagon Harbronn. You as well Lord Bahamut. It has been too long,” Terra said.

  “Indeed,” the changeling lord said, his voice a deep rumble Alex could feel in his chest. “All of my brood not in the long sleep are in the lines.”

  “Good,” she said. “We shall need their strength.” She turned to introduce her two companions. “King Eagon Harbronn, Lord Bahamut, this is Caitlyn Shadowpaw of the Changelings of the Fang, and this is Alex Zane, the Guardian of Balance.”

  “Praise the Mother, ye found ‘im,” King Harbronn said. Lord Bahamut nodded his agreement. They both turned to regard him.

  “I welcome you to the heart of Adorac and look forward to hunting our enemies together, Guardian,” Lord Bahamut said in his deep sonorous voice.

  “As do I,” the king said.

  Lord Bahamut looked down at Caitlyn. “Young Fangsister, it has been a long time since the Scale and Fang have hunted side by side. Will you accompany me this day?”

  Caitlyn grinned a panther’s grin and stretched her claws, “As I can, Scalelord.”

  “Excuse us a moment,” Alex said, turning to face Terra.

  “What is it, Alex?” Terra asked.

  “You didn’t answer me earlier,” he said. “When we were in the bedroom.”

  Terra let out a soft laugh and changed what she was going to say at the last second when she saw he was serious. “Right now?”

  He took his helmet off and, setting it down, settled to one knee in front of her, one hand on the Guardian’s Blade, the other in a fist on the ground. I’ve embraced this fate I’ve been dealt, Father. “I don’t have much to offer, and we know you won’t have me for long, but I love you, Terra Duval.”

  Words began to flow into his mind from the blade. “I don’t have a ring, but I offer you this pledge.” He took a deep breath and began.

  “I shall be your Shield. I offer my life in defense of yours. I will give my life before a drop of your blood is shed. I shall protect you in everything you do until the day I die, with my last breath. I offer myself as your husband and protector.” The three men looked shocked, and Caitlyn smiled for them.

  Terra smiled at Alex. “I accept your pledge. And, of course I’ll marry you, you big oaf. How did you know The Link Pledge?”

  “It told me,” Alex said patting the sword. A ghost of sadness crossed her face at the implications, but she banished it with another smile. She stepped to him and reached a hand toward either side of his head to begin the linking.

  “Wait,” Alex said.

  She took her hands back quickly. “What, my love?” she asked softly.

  “Can you give me one request?” Alex asked.

  “Anything.”

  “I want to marry you as you really are, not with you hiding yourself from everyone.”

  Terra looked at the people around them. “All right, Alex.” She took a deep breath and lifted her arms to her shoulders. She slowly let the breath out and snapped her arms back down to her sides. Her luminescent blue wings cast a soft glow on the floor around them. She is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, Alex thought.

  “King Harbronn,” Alex said.

  “Yes, Guardian?”

  “Could you wed us? As a Sorceress to her Shield?”

  The dwarven king walked next to them, his back to the Adorac Falls. “I would be honored to wed the Nexus an’ Guardian on the eve o’ battle.”

  Alex looked into Terra’s hazel eyes. “Are you ready?” he asked.

  She stretched her wings out straight behind her and placed a hand on either side of his head. “Yes, my love.”

  “Ye may begin the linkin’,” King Harbronn said. A beam of the purest white light encapsulated the two of them and shot up into the sky.

  “Terra Duval o’ Dae, Nexus o’ Magic, do ye accept this man’s pledge an’ his offer o’ marriage? Do ye swear to no’ send ‘im into undue danger an’ protect him as wholeheartedly as he defends ye? Do ye swear to love an’ honor him, forsakin’ all others, ‘til death do ye part?”

  “I do,” she said, a smile on her face. Alex felt tears well up in his eyes as he began to feel aware of her physical state, location, and emotions. He felt her love for him pulse along the forming link.

  “Alex Zane o’ Earth, Guardian o’ Balance, do ye accept this woman’s offer o’ marriage? Do ye swear to protect ‘er in all things, doing everything in yer power to keep ‘er from harm? Do ye swear to honor an’ love ‘er, forsakin’ all others, ‘til death do ye part?”

  “I do.” Tears began to run down Terra’s face as she felt his undying love for her.

  “Seein’ yer oaths true, I pronounce ye husband an’ wife. With a kiss, seal yer link an’ express yer true love fer each other.”

  Alex slowly stood and placed his hands on either side of Terra’s face. She slid her hands down from high on his head to his face. Each pulled the other in for a long kiss.

  They had kissed many times before, but none of them had approached the bliss of this one perfect kiss. Alex breathed in the warm smell of his new wife and felt the smooth skin of her tender lips pressed against his. Alex lost himself in the pure expression of their feelings for each other.

  Alex felt the link gain a sense of permanence, as if it belonged between him and Terra, and it always would. He felt a hollow boom from the pillar of light exploding around them.

  “I love you, my wife,” Alex whispered.

  Terra smiled; her hazel eyes reflected light from the magma falls. “I love you too, my husband.”

  A few seconds passed before he even noticed the roar of
cheers throughout the volcano. They parted and stood next to each other, holding hands. Terra spread her wings high above them and raised her hand to wave at all the cheering dwarves. The roar intensified.

  “I wove a simple spell so all could hear the ceremony,” Lord Bahamut said in his deep rumble.

  Terra smiled at him. “Thank you.”

  Caitlyn padded up next to them. “Congratulations you two. On the marriage, and the baby.”

  Alex grinned at her at the same time Brahm sputtered, “Baby?”

  A horn that made a warped sound cut through the reverie, and the cheers stopped immediately as everyone turned to face the sound.

  “They’re comin’ from the south,” King Harbronn said. “Just as the scouts reported.”

  “I still say something stinks about all o’ this, me king,” Brahm said gruffly. “They only brought half as many as they did when they tried to besiege us five years ago. It’ll be a slaughter, why do it?”

  “Only half?” Alex asked. He frowned in thought

  “Aye,” Brahm said. “Azreal do no’ care fer his forces, but he do no’ waste ‘em either. This’ll be a slaughter o’ ‘is army.”

  Alex felt himself begin to fill with a sense of vitality and strength. He felt Terra’s worry flow across the link. He picked his helmet up from the ground next to him and put it on.

  “They come,” Lord Bahamut said.

  Alex heard the snap of bone and sinew behind him and knew Lord Bahamut was changing into his animal form. The snap of bone grew deeper and louder. Alex cringed at the sound and began to grow worried as it went on and on. He turned to look just as the sound stopped.

  A giant red eye with a vertical slit pupil regarded Alex as he stepped back in surprise. The eye was in a huge scaled head on the end of a scaled, sinuous neck. Scales covered the spiked body and tail of the fifty-foot-long ancient red dragon. A beat of leathery wings launched the Dragonlord into the air. Bahamut roared in hatred as demons poured from the tunnels to the south.