Everyone shook from fright as she roared and spewed acid everywhere. They began to run for their lives as she raged. She then breathed a massive cloud of chlorine gas, killing everyone within range, all but Jennifer. She simply stood back, completely unharmed.
“Your Majesty!” Jennifer yelled.
The massive dragon looked down at Jennifer and immediately calmed down. She fell into her human shape and stood in front of Jennifer. “Forgive me, my love. I’ve lost myself again, haven’t I?”
“Yes, your Majesty.” Jennifer bowed with respect.
Now calm, the Black Queen pulled Jennifer close, hugging her. “Thank you. You always know what I need, when I need it. Remember when we met?”
Jennifer squeezed her and genuinely smiled. “Yes, you were raging then, too. I was the only one left in that retched city, and you took me away.”
“Hmm, yea. There you were, standing there looking so pretty. I had burned everything. I couldn’t figure out why you weren’t dead. You were unharmed and not afraid of me. I guess I fell for you then.” She pulled away and looked into Jennifer’s eyes, caressing her face.
Jennifer blushed and looked away. “…and I for you, My Queen.”
“Are you glad I killed him, Jennifer?”
“Your mate? Well, I can’t say I liked his personality much. He always seemed so…jealous.”
“Kraal always thought I belonged to him. He felt that he saved me, therefore I was his property. Too bad for him he wasn’t immune to fire. So, you don’t think that was too…rash?”
“My Queen, three’s a crowd!” Jennifer smiled. “I’m so glad I’m immune.”
“What do you call that again?”
“Progressive Cellular Regeneration. I inherited it from my grandfather when I lived here, in the future. In fact, my condition seems to be an even better version than my grandfather’s. It’s made me totally invulnerable. Those scientists on Earth were experimenting on me, trying various…methods…to harm me. Bastards. I wish I could kill them all over again.” Jennifer’s face grew a bit dark with the memory. “You’d be amazed at what can be done without inflicting physical harm.”
The Black Queen caressed Jennifer’s hair. “My immortal lover. It’s strange. In another reality you and I are distantly related.”
Jennifer laughed. “Like that ever stopped anyone!”
“Come on; let’s get that damned army moving before the dwarves get the drop on us. I guess we had better get The Craft fired up too, just in case we have to escape. Plan B.”
“Yes, my Queen.”
The Black Queen transformed into her dragon shape with Jennifer riding her back.
Jennifer looked over at The Craft. “I hope we don’t have to leave. I like it here. It’s my true home. I never liked Earth or Mars.”
The Black Queen laughed. “Me neither!
The Craft was a non-descript eight feet tall by four feet rectangular box with strange markings, and a locked door on one side. It sat mostly unnoticed on the far side of the throne room. “It’s been a good Craft. I guess that ‘Mister Smith’ fella was sorry he left it sitting around, eh?”
“Undoubtedly!” Jennifer laughed. “I’ll never forget the look on his face when you dissolved him with acid. Glad I got the key first! He actually thought I wanted to travel with him again after he left me to be tortured. Imagine?”
The two of them rose high through the already crashed dome and into the sky above the Palace.
Chapter 18
“They’re in Lakeshore,” Vella said. She had just arrived at the war machine detachment, checking in with Deccon.
“Good. What about the others in Deepforge?” Deccon asked.
“Most of the warriors elected to stay behind. There’s still some innocents, I need to get them out as soon as my energy regenerates enough. There were a lot of people to take. It’s not going well. Maybe you could go? I can stay here and help the detachment?”
“Yea, I’ll go right away. There’s something you should know, though. We found out who three of the traitors are. Brendon, Daemon, and, you’re not going to believe this. Rebecca.”
“No! Well, Brendon I can believe, but the other two?”
“There’s apparently more. We don’t know who, though. Ok, I’ll get to Deepforge and see what I can do there. What else has happened?”
“The metallics have returned and joined up with the Nords. They’ve engaged the Drakmids and chromatics at the southern end of Deepforge valley. Looks like Deepforge is lost, my love.”
“Don’t count us out yet. Any idea where Grognor and the others are?”
“No, none. They may have arrived already.”
“Ok. I’ll let Bōddy know. We’re still about a day out, hope we’re not too late.”
“What shall we do about the Great Door?” Selena asked as they tossed the last of the Drakmids’ bodies into the magma vents.
“We’ll seal it with stone until this war is over,” Bruno said.
“Seal it?” Grognor asked.
“Yes. We have the skills to seal it and once again make it a refuge of safety. We’ll use an interlocking design that nothing will get through. I wish we had done so sooner.”
They finished cleaning up, and had funerals for the fallen. This was a surprise to Selena, who had not believed in doing so in the middle of a war. Grognor told her why it was important. As they began the process of sealing the door, Deccon appeared.
“Oh, sure. Now you show up,” Selena said.
Deccon couldn’t believe his eyes. “You’ve taken Deepforge!”
“Hey! It speaks and it sees!” Teelena said, sarcastically.
“You all be nice,” Grognor said. “It’s good you’ve come, Deccon. Yes, as you can see, we’ve taken it back. Not without losses, though. We’re sealing it up, and are planning to join the battle in the valley. We’re taking this war to the Black Queen herself.”
“Who?”
Bruno cut in, “The Black Queen. I’ve had run-ins with her before, and she’s bad news. She’s a black dragon, but with other abilities. I suspect that has something to do with why Bahamlo left. It’s not Lotanna like he thought.”
“A dragon…” Deccon said, thoughtfully.
“Yea, a bad one, too,” Bruno said, looking at Deccon with a strange look on his face, “a…really bad one…D e c c o n…” He pronounced Deccon’s name especially clear for some reason, continuing to stare at him.
“Well, I’ve dealt with really bad dragons before. If we can just rally enough metallics, it shouldn’t be a problem. I just wish Bahamlo hadn’t left. I wonder what this has to do with the Dragon King prophesy?” Deccon said.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on this subject, and on what everyone told us when this war started. Does anyone else remember a visit from a couple of gods?” Grognor asked.
Everyone shook their head ‘no’.
“Gods?” Bruno said.
“Yea, I still have this image in my head of a couple of gods visiting us, right when we met with Brendon. It’s like a dream, but a really vivid one.”
“No, it was just us, Sire. Vella and myself. Don’t you remember?” Deccon said.
“I just can’t shake it. I must have been a dream, but…why does it linger? Well, anyway. This whole thing has me thinking that this is more than just some maniacal rogue dragon wanting to kill us and take Deepforge for some hidden metal. There’s something deeper, and I also think that EM pulse had something to do with it.” Grognor shook his head.
“Well,” Bruno started, “whatever it is, we’re up against a formidable foe. I can tell you that from personal experience.”
“Tell us of your experiences with her,” Deccon said.
Bruno got a dark look on his face. “She’s…she’s devastated entire worlds. Worlds with advanced technology. Billions of lives snuffed out. She even came after my wife and I personally.” He held his head down. “She’s the worst enemy I’ve ever encountered. Think about that.”
“Is
she a god?” Grognor asked.
“Worse. She operates outside of their authority. Not sure how…”
“Well, she won’t succeed here. We’ll show her that coming to Ahl-Thoor-Hees was her biggest mistake,” Teelena said.
“We’ll need this,” Selena said. She produced a reproduction of Markog Drgoodondt’s exploration map.
“Yea, looks like you’re going to get to explore after all,” Teelena said.
“Well, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind,” Grognor said.
Construction continued until all but a small opening was left.
They all assembled just outside and readied. They were all on foot at this point, but ready to make war. The Stone Children sealed up the door and then looked out at the valley. Far down to the south, the dragons could be seen battling in the sky, and the sounds of war could be heard in the distance.
Bruno looked up at the valley walls and pointed at some of the distant peaks on either side. The Stone Children understood without him ever saying a word. Grognor and the others noticed this, and had to know what they were planning.
“What’s wrong?” Grognor asked.
“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Bruno said. “In fact, we’ve realized something very important. We’ll have a huge advantage.”
“How do you figure?” Teelena asked.
“Stones, pure and simple. Even where battle is taking place, more on the hills than in the valley, they’re still close enough to the peaks that we can make it work.” Bruno pointed at the high mountain peaks just before the valley floor became shallow, close to where the battle raged.
Everyone looked at where he pointed, then back at him, questioning his point.
“We’re the Stone Children. Perhaps you’ve noticed that we have a way with rocks?” Bruno motioned to the sealed door, smiled, and then picked up a large stone lying nearby.
This was a normal thing; the Stone Children were able to handle any form of rock like it had no weight. Bruno looked at the other Stone Children, and twenty of them picked up some impossibly large rocks. Bruno nodded. They all threw the rocks across the valley at the opposite hill. The sound of them flying through the air caused small sonic booms. A split second later, the rocks hit the opposite hill like a cannon shot, exploding in pulverized dust.
“This is why dragons have never been a problem for us,” Bruno said, smugly. “All we need is to catch them in open area where there are abundant rocks around, and we’ll have them. Better than giants.”
“Giants?” Selena said.
“Yea…never mind,” Bruno said. “Come on, how about some dragon sport? Ummm…sorry, Deccon…”
Deccon chuckled. “No problem. I know about your abilities, remember?” he pointed to his head, revealing an old scar.
“Well, that’s what you get for sneaking up on us that way, I told you!” Bruno laughed as Deccon smirked.
“You said it, Bruno. It’s time to turn the tides,” Grognor said.
The Deepforge army marched down the valley toward the battle, eager for victory.
“Come on!” Eric the Nord yelled as he rushed forward, clashing with the line of Drakmids. The Deepforge dwarves fought alongside them. Metal clashed with metal, sword and shield, axe and helm. Chaos ruled the scene as warriors fought valiantly. The Drakmids’ armor was no longer superior to the others; the Nords had brought along specialized weapons of unbelievable craftsmanship. Their swords and other blades could easily slice through the Drakmids’ armor. They had brought enough to share with the dwarves. This evened the odds.
The armies fought on the ground as the dragons fought in the air. Metallics and chromatics clashed, fire and chlorine, ice, acid and lightning. They clashed physically as well, talon and tail, bite and grapple.
“Knock off their helmets!” Bergnor yelled as he swung his hammer at the nearest Drakmid.
“Stop showing off, Brother!” Kergnor laughed as he bisected a Drakmid with his huge battle axe.
The battle continued on several days and nights, with casualties on both sides. The dwarves and Nords continued on without any apparent fatigue, but the Drakmids seemed to lose their will after the fifth day. The dragons, however, continuously filled the sky with epic roars and the various types of breath weapon. Only a few dragons fell, but when they did it was a very big deal. Especially when one of them fell onto the battle below. Warriors from both sides would typically be crushed, and several more would run for their lives. After the defeated dragon hit the ground, it would become overrun by the warriors trying to get the each other. The battle spanned Deepforge valley side to side, and the dead bodies began to become obstacles themselves. The Deepforge/Nord army would always strip the Drakmids’ bodies of armor and anything else of value, and likewise with the Drakmids when one of the others fell. This just caused more chaos for the others to deal with, as the armies began to resemble each other. Killing one of their own was becoming more and more common.
As the armies fought fiercely, something strange happened. Kergnor was fully engaged fighting a Drakmid when he got a glimpse of something on a nearby mountain peak. This caused him to lose his focus, and he suffered a hit to his side. He yelled in anger and spun around, connecting and bisecting the offending Drakmid. Having dealt with his immediate annoyance, he once again turned his attention to whatever it was on the mountain peak. As he did so, he saw a blur of movement emitting from the glimpse. By the time he realized what it was, it was obvious.
A tall grey colored biped stood very obviously on the nearby mountain peak and picked up an impossibly large stone. Then, it threw the stone at the nearest dragon, a red. The stone flew so fast that it caused the very air to make a strange whining noise. Once in flight, it was nearly impossible to keep the stone in sight. A very short time after the launch, the stone impacted and nearly vaporized the red dragon’s head in a loud ‘thud’. The dragon’s body crashed to the ground just north of the fighting.
“By the gods!” Kergnor exclaimed, still not understanding what he was seeing.
“They’re here! Praise Odin!” Eric yelled.
The Nords all yelled a mighty war cry and began to back away from the Drakmids.
“We need to get back, this is going to be the craziest thing you’ve ever seen!” one of the Nords yelled.
“Fall back!” Kergnor yelled, to be echoed by everyone else.
The combined army began retreating when they all saw the war machine division just coming over the last hill into Deepforge valley, getting ready for battle. All at once, the sky was filled with missiles of nearly all kinds. Large stones began flying from the mountains, impacting the chromatic dragons and killing them with massive damage. Cannons and trebuchets from the other side were quickly anchored and implemented. Cannonballs flew over the heads of Deepforge/Nord army, impacting and exploding in the Drakmids’ army. At the same time, arrows filled the sky arching over and down into what was left of the Drakmids. It was all over quickly. Nearly seven thousand Drakmids and several dozen chromatic dragons lay dead, causing the water of the Deepforge tributary to be nearly dammed up. Cheers of victory echoed across the valley.
Chapter 19
The foothills south of Deepforge valley were filled with the smoke of burning bodies. Mountains of Drakmid and dragon bodies burned. The metallic dragons kept the fires going to reduce the bodies to ashes. Everyone pitched in with the clean up. Finally, they all settled down near the river to camp and begin preparing for the long trip.
“Emperor Grognor, I am Chieftain Eric of the Nords.” The impressive, massive northern warrior towered over the Emperor. “Pleasure to meet you, Chieftain. Nords, eh?” Grognor shook hands with the north man.
“Yes, Sire. We are all Nords, named for our founder Markog the Nord.”
“Markog?” Grognor said.
“Yes,” Eric said. “Markog the Nord and his band of explorers came to our shores many eons ago. They had just dispatched a massive sea serpent, and had lost many of their crew and ship. It was said they had come
from Valhalla to found our great nation in the northern mountain valley of Nordland. We are all descendants of that band of explorers.”
The short story hung in the air. All within hearing range could not believe what they had just heard.
“Wait a minute,” Teelena said. “Markog Drgoodondt founded your people?”
“Markog the Nord,” Eric said, nodding with pride. “My lineage goes directly back to the tall dwarf himself!”
“Humans…and dwarves…mixing. This is incredible!” Teelana said.
Grognor said, “Drgoodondt.” several times with different accents, until he finally said something that sounded like, “DreNoordt.” He smiled at the others, and they said it too. “Markog DreNoordt. Markog Dre Noordt… De Nordt. Well, I’ll be damned! Markog the Nord!” He reached into his pack and pulled out the copy of the ancient map, and then handed it to Eric.
Eric took the map and looked at it with wonder. He looked up at Grognor and pulled out an almost identical map. He handed it to Grognor. “So, he wasn’t from Valhalla, he was from…Deepforge?”
Grognor nodded. “That’s right. In fact, that map and his notes were the only things we found of him. They were jammed in a clump of branches in the river… a long time ago! The notes tell epic tales of adventure, discovery, and his last trek with his site-built ship. The last thing he wrote was his plans to cross the ocean. We figured the sea creatures got him since he was never heard from again. We still have the originals in the library.”
Eric smiled, obviously pleased for some reason. “That makes a lot of sense. All the history we have of Markog starts just before he landed on the northern shores. There are no records of him and his explorers prior to that. Now we know why.”
Grognor looked down at Eric’s arms, noticing the missing hand. “So, you must tell us how you lost your hand.”
Eric looked down at the armored stub. “Lost in battle…long story…So… I would really love to see your artifacts some time.”
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