The Runes of Destiny
Page 22
“Drop it!” an orc voice shouted.
But Ademar ignored it. He had locked eyes with the amethyst dragon. He would look at no others until this dragon admitted he was the one with the power.
Tace shuffled closer until her snout was next to Ademar’s head, her teeth glinting in the moonlight.
Her voice echoed in his head. It must be destroyed.
Destroyed? It was no mere rock. It was a soul. How does one destroy a soul?
Ademar looked at this dragon who had once been the orc he loved.
And in that moment, he knew what he had to do.
“I can’t break it. And if I lock it away in a box, or bury it, someone else will find it. They’ll use it for evil. There’s only one way to set things right.”
With a shaking hand, he brought the stone to his mouth, shoved it in, and swallowed it.
Immediately he felt opposing sides fighting for control. One, a human influence, gentle and tender. The other like an orc, cruel and unforgiving. The orc influence was far stronger, and the human influence settled into a quiet place in Ademar’s soul, assuring him he’d done the right thing and promising him life after death.
Then the orc soul took over Ademar’s very being, bringing him to his knees. He did not fight it. If the soul was contained within a living, breathing being, then maybe there was a chance it could die.
Tace, his love, reared back and doused his body, his soul, his life, in flames.
As his skin burned, the pain agonizing, he felt the evil soul within him crying out. It was too damaged to recover this time. Ademar’s pain was its own.
And with a resounding crack, the stone shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, dead.
Chapter 50
With a claw, Tace sifted through Ademar’s ashy remains, checking for the stone. It was gone.
Finally, the god Drothu had been completely destroyed.
They were free.
But sorrow spread through her cool blood. She still loved the human who had changed her life. The brave human who had sacrificed all for her.
Her scales tingled, and a final mark appeared on her foreleg. A triangle with three wavy lines, one bisecting each side. Drothu’s mark.
No. It was her mark now.
She had completed the task set before her all those months ago after Hugh turned the world on its ear by killing himself.
She owed the old human priest everything.
Thanks to him, the orc world had been set right again.
Since merging with the dragon, Tace had shared her memories with the great beast, and together, they assembled the final pieces of the puzzle. Finally, she understood.
Long ago, the dragons hosted orc souls after their corporeal death. Together, they ruled the continent of Doros. Until the day when the beast called Drothu arrived on their shores. He used his magic to separate the dragons and the orc souls, holding them captive and enslaving the orcs in life and in death. The few dragons who escaped him hid in the north, while the rest were kept in the Nether, the so-called afterlife the orcs were forced to fear. Drothu declared himself a god and demanded fealty from the orcs, who were too scared to deny him. And though he disappeared one day, the orcs, fearing his return, passed his story down from generation to generation. And thus, Drothu became what he’d always longed to be: immortal.
Not anymore. Drothu was gone. The orcs and dragons were free.
And Tace had lost the only person outside her family she’d ever loved.
She lay on the ground next to Ademar’s empty shell, nuzzling what had once been hers to adore. A single tear fell from her eye, landing on his charred body.
A small spark rose from Ademar’s corpse into the air.
It might have gone unnoticed had Tace’s dragon eyes not been so sharp. And this was no trick of the night sky. It was Ademar’s soul. Though she had always believed orcs to be superior to humans, she now knew that, deep down, they were the same.
Ademar’s soul hovered in the air, as if unsure where to go. Tace wished she knew how to guide it to its final resting place. It was the least she could do for this human who had loved her, and who had earned her love in return. But human souls were unknown to her kind. Would he go to Solnar, or perhaps back to the Fifth Sanctum?
An onyx dragon landed next to Tace. She hadn’t seen this dragon in the battle, nor did she recognize his scent. Perhaps he had lagged behind the others Raseri had brought. And she did not sense an orc soul inside him.
He glanced at Tace, then opened his mouth and inhaled Ademar’s soul.
Tace’s heart leapt into her throat. Could it be possible?
The onyx dragon turned to her with a new light in its eyes, then lowered his head to the ground in supplication. Tace?
She knew that voice, even though it was only a whispered echo of what it had once been.
Ademar?
The onyx dragon looked up at her. Yes.
Drothu’s soul? Is it…?
You destroyed the so-called god of the orcs. He is no more.
And your soul? You can be a dragon, too?
The onyx dragon chuckled. A deep, sonorous tone. Hugh left a bit of himself imprinted on Drothu’s soul. It was his final gift to me. To us. At least you can’t call me “human” anymore. “Dragon” is completely acceptable, though.
Tace snorted in his face, then leapt into the sky. The onyx dragon leapt after her.
Forgetting everyone below, Tace waited for him to catch up. The two intertwined from their necks to the tips of their tails, every piece of them coming together in a dance of victory.
They had won.
It was finally over.
Chapter 51
Rafe held Agamede’s hand as he helped her out of the rubble. When the city shook, the door to their prison had fallen loose, and Rafe had guided his dear wife out of the darkness and into the light of early morning.
He wasn’t sure what he’d expected to see when they finally made it out, but it certainly wasn’t this.
Hundreds of dragons flew in the sky and milled around the prairie. And orcs walked among them, helping them clean up the bodies.
It was as if they’d been working together all their lives.
Rafe scanned the crowd, and quickly spotted Vitagut. He waved to the young orc, who jogged over, a small elf on his heels.
“My king!” Vitagut said, dropping to a knee.
“Get up before anyone sees, you fool.”
Vitagut stood quickly, brushing off the knees of his pants. “This is Maysant, Princess of Gailwyn. We thought you had died. I never would have left Agitar if I had known you were still alive.”
“It’s true,” Maysant said. “He spoke of you often and in such kind terms. It is nice to make your acquaintance.”
“My goodness,” Agamede said. “An elven princess working with the new orc king after the old king’s demise.”
“But sire,” said Vitagut, “the old king is not dead. You live!”
“As far as the world knows, I am dead,” Rafe said. “And Agamede and I would prefer it remain that way.”
Agamede smiled weakly. “I feel as though I have died a thousand deaths. I am the queen no longer.”
“And I am no longer the king,” Rafe said, looking lovingly upon his wife. “It is yours, Vitagut.”
The young orc laughed heartily. “If the other orcs will have me, I will take on the mantle. We have cleansed the land of evil. Perhaps rebuilding Agitar is now within reach.”
“I will help you,” Maysant said, smiling up at Vitagut with a look Rafe knew all too well. She was smitten with him, and it was obvious Vitagut returned her feelings.
It was clear that Agamede saw it too. “Much has changed in a very short time,” she said, raising an eyebrow.
Maysant laughed. “That is the least of all the changes coming to Doros.” She took Vitagut’s hand in hers.
“Vitagut…” Rafe asked, a pit in his stomach. “Have you news of Nemia? My daughter?” That evil child had plagued hi
m from the day of her birth. She was evil incarnate. If she still lived, he would have to dispose of her somehow.
“Dead, sir,” Vitagut said. “Eaten by Drothu.”
“I cannot say I’m sorry,” Rafe said. “The world is safer without her.”
“There is much you don’t know about what transpired in the last few days…” Vitagut said.
“Perhaps we can explain it to you later,” Maysant said. “Once everything is back in order, there is a story we will have to share with all the orcs of Doros.”
“In the meantime,” Vitagut said, “take one of our draft horses. Ride to Inab. You will be cared for there as a refugee. I plan to send all those who cannot help us rebuild to Inab.”
Rafe took Vitagut’s hand. “Thank you. I’m pleased I made the right choice in choosing you as my successor.”
“You should go before anyone recognizes you,” Vitagut said to Rafe. “Safe travels.”
“Good luck, my king,” Rafe said. He was surprised at how easily the words rolled off his tongue.
He led Agamede to the nearest draft horse and helped her onto its back. He mounted behind her, careful to hold onto her waist. She leaned into him, resting for the first time since they’d escaped their oubliette.
As they trotted away from Agitar, he looked backed and saw a faun, a unicorn, and a strange silver creature walking toward Vitagut and Maysant. A purple dragon and a black dragon flew above in a circle, while a smaller blue dragon darted between them. And as Rafe watched, Vitagut leaned down to take the elf princess in his arms, and their lips locked in a tentative kiss.
The others, their friends—for he supposed that was what the odd group was—cheered joyously.
Rafe looked away, allowing them their privacy. A great change was coming to Doros. And none of them would ever be the same.
More About Megg
Thank you for reading Dragons of the Nether.
The series is complete.
* * *
Want to know more about upcoming releases?
* * *
Subscribe to Megg’s newsletter:
http://smarturl.it/MeggsNewsletter
* * *
Interested in Megg’s other novels, including her USA Today bestselling series Dragonlands?
Visit Megg’s website:
* * *
http://www.meggjensen.com
or
Follow her on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/authormeggjensen
Acknowledgments
Thank you so much to my editors. Without them, this book would have been a mess. It took me more than a year to write, including a long break in the middle while I had surgery and recovered. David Gatewood is an extraordinary editor. I can’t recall how I ever published a book without him. Joelle Sisto’s eagle eye caught the smallest of mistakes. Sharon Rosen helped me clarify so much in the manuscript.
Once again, Michael Guass created the original art for the cover. He really knocked it out of the park with this one. Steven Novak took care of all the little things, of which there are a million. He’s the best! Stephanie Verish is the artist who made the continent of Doros come to life with the map in front. She’s amazing, and I’m so happy to have her on my team.
To my family… it’s been a crazy couple years. You stood by me during my medical diagnosis and gave me all the time and space to recover so I could eventually get back to writing again. I never could have done this without you!
My readers. You’ve been with me through thick and thin over the last eight years. If it weren’t for you, I’d be nothing.