by Dave Skinner
Together they descended the stairs from the royal apartments and made their way through the hallways below. Normally these halls would be clear, but now they had to step over sleeping bodies and squeeze past tangles of people. They descended another stairway and entered the Great Hall close to the ballroom. Again they had to wind their way through the mass of people. This was the route to the portal, and it was jammed with expectant faces. Adamtay and the king smiled assurance to their subjects. Exiting the palace proper did not alleviate any of the overcrowding, but the openness did allow them to move more quickly. Eventually they mounted the first set of stairs to the gatehouse above the keep’s main gate. Beyond the keep’s walls and the protective magic shield, the city was destroyed. It lay smoldering and broken before them, the casualty of dragon fire. As if on cue, Adamtay saw the dragon soar into view and float above the advancing army.
“They have increased their numbers,” his father observed. “Can you hold the shield against a force that large?” he asked his brother as they came up to him. The court wizard looked tired and drawn, but his voice was still strong.
“Time will tell. We have so—” Neventay stopped speaking suddenly. Adamtay looked towards the advancing army puzzled by his uncle’s action, until he noticed the second dragon in the sky. The beasts circled high above the city. The army stopped marching at the outskirts of the smoldering ruins. The dragons circled once more before one dove out of the sky. Fire spewed across the protective shield. The second dragon dove. More fire was sprayed. The beasts rose into the sky. Adamtay held his breath and then both beasts dove together, spewing fire across the whole shield. Again and again they spit forth their destruction. Adamtay let his breath seep out, and then the cry was heard, a frantic scream from the far side of the keep. Adamtay spun towards the sound and witnessed fire surge through a break in the shield. The fire stopped as the dragons flew past, leaving flaming, screaming figures running out of the blackened area.
“Close the shield!” he heard his uncle scream as he ran towards the breach. The dragons completed their climb and dove again. Fire flared towards the breech, but a spear of energy burst up from the wall to close the opening. The dragons dove three more times before Neventay returned. Adamtay had never seen his uncle look so grey.
“The shield cannot be held,” he told them. “We lost four wizards to the breech. We must fall back to the palace. The smaller area will increase the strength of the shield. It may give us a chance.”
“Pass the word,” Adamtay commanded a soldier beside them. “Fall back to the palace.”
“And do it quickly,” Neventay added just before he staggered.
Adamtay managed to grab him before he fell. “Help me back to the palace,” Neventay commanded. “Mearisdeana is making contact.”
“Take him, Father. I will see to the withdrawal.”
Men were scrambling from the walls as the dragons fell from the sky again. The shield held and held again. Eventually only the wizards holding the shield were left. One turned to him.
“We move back now, Your Highness,” he told him. “You should precede us.”
Adamtay appreciated the man’s cool nature. He turned and walked down the stairs. The wizards made an ordered retreat. One descended each set of stairs and stopped at the bottom before the next one descended. It was a slow process, but eventually they were all off the keep wall. Then they stepped backwards together, one step at a time, step, hold, step, hold, until they stood with their backs against the palace walls and doors.
“This is the difficult part, Your Majesty. There are only four doors to the palace. No matter how we practiced the withdrawal, we inevitably left parts unprotected unless we leave eight men spaced evenly around the outside of the walls while the rest of us take up position inside. There is no other way to accomplish it. We have reduced the shield to a size that can be managed by eight. You should step inside, Sire, and may I say it was a pleasure serving you and your family.”
Adamtay entered the palace and a stream of wizards followed him in and quickly disappeared to their assigned positions. Dragon fire against the shield was almost constant now. Suddenly a scream sounded from outside. The wizard outside the door staggered and went to his knees. “Close the gate!” he screamed. “Do it, before all is lost!”
Soldiers jumped to obey him. Adamtay sprang forward, grabbed the wizard’s cloak, and pulled him inside just as the door swung shut. He helped the man to his feet and steadied him until he could stand alone.
“I think you needed more practice to perfect that move,” Adamtay said.
“Two dragons were not in the planning,” Your Majesty.”
A bell sounded from the depths of the palace. Adamtay felt a sense of relief wash through him. “They are opening the portal,” he told the wizard.
“I know, Your Majesty. It will soon be time for the next difficult part.” There was no smile on the man’s face and little sense of hope.
***
Mearisdeana placed the black communication stone on the small table one of the Tawshe Travellers had supplied. She looked around. Andoo, Micka and Adel stood close, and Nailmoe stood behind her. “Tell them we are ready,” Andoo told her.
She nodded and took the vial of blood from her pouch. She spilt a small drop onto the stone and repeated the words Neventay had taught her. The sphere of blackness grew above the stone, but nothing appeared within it. She waited and waited. Finally she turned to the three wizards. “Have I done something wrong?”
“No,” Andoo assured her. “The link is open, but no one is answering. Give it time.”
Finally, colours twisted within the blackness and Neventay’s face appeared. “Where is Adamtay?” she demanded. “Is he okay?”
“Yes, he is fine, but the enemy has attacked with two dragons. Are you ready to begin?”
“Yes.”
“Then let us start. Activate your crystal, and then I will do mine.”
Mearisdeana stood and ran to the crystal. She knelt on the grass and uncapped the vial again. Carefully she dripped blood onto the crystal. “It is done,” she heard Nailmoe say to the blackness.
“Move back, Mearisdeana,” Andoo told her as he came up. She sprang up and moved to the side. She felt Nailmoe beside her. “Adel and Micka, here and here,” Andoo ordered. “Do not move from your assigned position.” Both girls nodded.
Suddenly a large void opened beside the crystal. Moments later two scaled Dragon Men leading chargers and carrying lances walked through. They slowed and looked about them. “Keep moving,” Nailmoe commanded. “Sergeant, form your squad up over there.” He pointed off to the side. “How many Lancers follow you?”
“Six squads, sir.”
“Good. Once through we will head out to the perimeter. There are friends out there who we will reinforce. Listen to what they tell you. They are good people. Did anyone think to bring me a mount?”
“Yes, sir,” the sergeant called back. “Andersay has it.”
The soldiers moved well off to the side as the squads assembled, and then the king and queen came through. Mearisdeana called them to her as more and more of her people appeared. “Is Adamtay not with you?” she asked.
“My son is in command of the defenses. He will be last through, if I know him,” the king told her. “Who are all these people?”
“They are friends who have come to help. They have brought food and shelter.”
“Wonderful,” the queen said.
King Terrintay suddenly called out. “Keep the line moving,” he bellowed. “Excuse me, my dears. My authority is required. Your parents were close behind us, Mearisdeana. They should be through soon.” He moved off to where people were congregating.
Chapter 47
Verity, Master of the Wizards Council, saw the mast and then the ship anchored in a small bay. On shore he could see smoke rising from campfires. If that did not identify the place he sought, there was also the crackle of magic in the air.
“This is the place,” he inf
ormed the skipper of the small boat he had hired in Little Point. “Put me ashore as quickly as possible.”
He had followed the waif person to The Point where he had confronted Terac, the leader of the Bentmen. With a little insistence on Verity’s part the man had admitted to ordering Sim’s death and that the waif had carried out the assignment, but he swore he knew nothing of the necklace or the cat’s eye. Verity had let him live. Revenging Sim was not what he wanted, it was the necklace he needed. Terac had told him Waif, as she was named, hailed from Little Point, so he had travelled there, but she was nowhere to be found. It was in Little Point he heard from a ship’s captain about the arrival of the Dragon People. His ship had taken supplies and Travellers to a bay along the coast.
Arriving onshore he made his way towards the portal. Andoo Toran met him as he drew closer.
“You were supposed to stop this, Andoo, not facilitate it.” He did not need to underscore his anger with his voice.
“It was already too far advanced before we concluded the Wizard’s Council. I had no choice but to help. These people are required for the final battle. Without them we are lost.”
“If you had followed the council’s ruling, there would have been no final battle. We must close the portal now, before any demons can come through.”
“We will not do that,” Andoo told him.
“Do not fight me on this, Andoo. You would not like the outcome.”
“I guarantee that no demons will live if they pass through the portal. Actions other than that I cannot accept. We will destroy the portal and the means of opening it as soon as the Dragon People are safe.”
“That will not stop the Destroyer from coming.”
“I know, but I will not see the Dragon People abandoned. The only way to stop the Destroyer is the destruction of Mearisdeana’s necklace. It is still the focal point. I thought I had the problem solved when Manda of Gore came to me, but someone stole the necklace from her. When the portal is closed, I will attempt to find the necklace and destroy it.”
“That will not be necessary. I also have been watching this destiny unfold. A thief known as Waif stole the necklace. I will undertake to find her and see it destroyed.”
“Good,” Andoo told him. “I have other duties to occupy my time. Thank you for taking one from my shoulders. Now, I must return to my vigil.”
Verity watched Andoo return to a position by the portal. Perhaps that would do it. He would find and destroy the necklace as soon as he was sure the portal could not be opened again by the Dragon People, but he would stand watch here and make sure everything went as it should.
Chapter 48
Ichaca floated on his back in the warm water, his wings spread, his neck wrapped around so his head lay on his breast. I am at peace, he thought. This is a young world, but it is a good one. Food is abundant, the heat of volcanoes is available to purify in, cool or warm waters whenever I like. My life here is good, much better than being chained in a cave with the itch of the accused Sword of Sacrifice at my back. He thought back to his encounter with the three, red-cloaked, demon wizards. A vile taste arose in his mouth. Bah, demon mouth. Lifting his head from his chest he extended it to the water and sucked in a mouthful which he swished around before spitting it away. I dislike the taste of demons. I dislike demons. He settled his head back on his chest and closed his eyes, but thoughts of demons continued to plague him. The KaAnians were fighting the Demon Lord’s army over the crystals. I hope they destroyed him.
I will see, he decided.
Tucking in his wings he flipped over onto his front. Snapping his wings out he gave a few flaps to rise into the air. In moments he caught an upward draft that carried him higher into the sky. Holding the thought of KaAn in his mind, he tucked his wings and plummeted down. The lake below disappeared and was replaced by the hot barren landscape he sought. Hot air radiated from the scorched land, and he let it carry him skyward. Then he sensed his brethren. One, no two dragons were already here. He would see what they were doing. He spiraled upwards and then flew in their direction. The sense of dragons grew as he travelled, and then something overpowered it, a foulness he knew… demons. Off in the distance he could see smoke rising above the ruins of a city and two dragons circling and flaming. Ichaca settled on the peak of a mountain and watched.
The city was not completely destroyed. A central part still remained. The dragons flamed against it over and over again, but it was protected by a magic shield. An army of ogres and demons held at the edge of the ruins. They were waiting for the shield to fail, and Ichaca could sense that they would not have to wait much longer. The shield was weakening, no it was shrinking, and parts of the building were now exposed. One of the dragons settled on the exposed roof and tore at it with its claws. The other ripped away the front doors exposing the interior. A roar sounded from the waiting army as they charged forward, swarming up the open areas and over the fallen structures in a mad frenzy to reach the KaAnians.
The dragons tore at the building, exposing the heart that was still protected. The shield shrunk more until only a single area remained, and then it collapsed. As the magic of the shield died, Ichaca sensed other magic within. In the centre of the remaining structure a portal pulsed, a gateway to a far dimension. His brethren tore at the structure and exposed what lay within, just as the demons and ogres arrived. The roof had been torn away, but the walls still stood. A single large doorway remained in one wall and, off to the right, a wall of large windows looked out onto a shear drop to a balcony far below. One man, his magic pulsing around him, stood in front of the portal while a circle of men stood by the doorway. Between the men and the doorway another piece of magic pulsed, the Sword of Sacrifice. Ichaca sprang into the air and beat his way towards the scene.
The two dragons were clawing their way across the broken rubble towards the doorway when Ichaca bellowed his intent. They stopped and looked skyward, as did the demons riding their necks. Both dragons sprang into the air and beat towards him. Ichaca climbed the sky until he was above the two before he tucked his wings and dove, dropping straight down on them. At the last moment he spewed fire across their path. His brethren climbed through it unhurt, but the creatures on their backs were gone.
“You are free, brothers, now flee,” he called to them.
They returned his call with joyous roars before they disappeared. Ichaca wheeled about and looked for the Sword of Sacrifice. The demons and ogres had broken through the door. A small group of defenders had been driven off towards the windowed wall, the Sword bearer among them. Another group, equally small, was defending the wizard by the portal. He was gathering magical items together and screaming something to the men. A large demon sprang over the fighting soldiers, decapitating a few in the process, before he charged the wizard, just as the man brought his staff down on the gathered items. The items exploded in brilliant burst of released power. The demon rammed into the wizard and they both disappeared through the portal.
Ichaca swooped.
Chapter 49
Micka saw Nailmoe return as the last of the refugees arrived. He dismounted and ran forward to where the KaAnian king and queen were standing. What he said she could not hear, but he bowed to the two and then came towards the portal to stand with Mearisdeana.
No one else came through the rift. Micka could feel the energy pulsing through it.
“Close it,” she heard Master Verity say.
“No!” Mearisdeana commanded. “Adamtay and Neventay were to be the last through after the crystals were destroyed. Wait.”
She could see Verity seething and glaring at Mearisdeana. Micka concentrated on the portal. Would she be able to tell when the crystals on that end were destroyed? Andoo said that the portal would stay open as long as a magician with enough power was on the other end, but once the crystal at this end was destroyed, the whole thing would collapse no matter who was at the other end. She waited. Suddenly something crashed out of the opening. She saw a tumbling mass of body parts sprawl
on the ground in front of her. It took seconds to understand what she was seeing, mostly because her mind refused to accept it. A man fought with something terrible, a monster, and then the image resolved itself. She had seen it before, in Andoo’s vision of the future. It was a demon, and it pinned the man to the ground. A clawed hand rose to strike. Before she could react, Nailmoe jumped forward. His sword swept down and removed the raised hand. The demon screamed and rolled away. As it came to its feet two bursts of energy struck it. For moments it seemed able to withstand the bombardment before it exploded.
She shielded her eyes from the blast, and when she opened them Nailmoe and Mearisdeana were close to the man on the ground. He was bleeding and torn from the fight and seemed unable to move. Nailmoe stopped beside him. Mearisdeana fell to her knees by his head. “Neventay, where is he, where is Adamtay?” she screamed.
“Cut off,” the man said weakly.
Before another word was said, Nailmoe turned and charged into the rift. Without thought, Micka followed him. She felt intense cold, and then she stumbled through to the other side and stood beside Nailmoe before he charged into a group of creatures surrounding some KaAnians a few steps in front of the portal. His sword removed heads from the smaller beasts. She was about to throw an energy ball at a demon when she remember why she had come. The portal had to be anchored at this end. She took one step backwards and stomped her foot down, driving a spike of energy into the ground to stabilize her position.
“Nailmoe,” she called. “Hurry, I can’t hold the rift open for long!”
He glanced her way, surprise written in his eyes. “Lancers,” he screamed, “this way!”
The men broke out of the mayhem encircling them and surged to him. “Protect the girl. She holds the escape route open. Where is Adamtay?”