“Elder Raelles? Where is your builder? Summon him here and let us see to which shore the tide goes.”
A booming voice burst out across the square. “I am here, Lord Aurellia, I have come, your servant has done his duty well and built your armada of ships. All are intact, and all your armies have arrived safely on the shores of Zhael. How may I serve you best, Lord Aurellia?”
“Go home, Goleth, go home to your family!” The dark lord waved the man away. “You are freed of my service. But you must return me the gift of the black crystal. I will have need of it here. However, you have been loyal…here.” He flourished his hand and tossed Goleth a sack. “A reward…precious diamonds and rubies. Go on now before I change my mind.”
Aurellia clapped his hands and a vast spiraling wind shot up into the sky, hands of light churning and twirling and clearing the sky of the clouds and rain and storm. The stars poured through and a faint light was seen over the eastern horizon. The sun was rising, rising over Illumina, the kingdom of the sun. All Talis craved now, before taking the long journey back home, was to see the sun shine over the crystal city.
“Teach me the spell of flying, Palarian! I long to fly and see the sun as she rises.”
The old sorcerer laughed at Talis and wagged a finger at him. “Fly? You’re a dragon, young mage, and dragons are born to fly!”
Talis grinned back at Palarian and in his mind remembered his dragon form and changed in an instant. His eyes sharpened, the light brightened, and he beat his wings and roared in victory. But he remembered his friends, and remembered his lynx, and bent down and waited for them to climb onto his back.
He smelled the morning dew sweet as it touches the sun’s first hint of light and flapped his wings and rose higher and higher above the broken city of Illumina. The great golden ball of the sun broke over the vast horizon and shone on his dragon face and filled him with warmth and certainty for the journey ahead. And he flew and flew, aiming his beak east towards the sun, until the heat of it melted away all the dark days of their journey.
24. THE RETURN
After several long hours preparing the eighteen rune tablets needed for the two portals, Talis cast the first spell and together with Mara, Nikulo, Charna, and Goleth, they entered the swirling portal. They found themselves back on Chandrix on that desolate, rocky hill, the air smelling sweet of smoke and cinnamon, the sky thick with fog. But for some reason this time the world was colder and darker, and Talis had the eerie sensation that they were being watched. He bent down and dusted off the gold-capped stone marker he’d found when they’d first entered Chandrix. Indeed they were close to home.
“Just one more step and we’ll be back on our world.” Talis scratched Charna’s ears and chin and smiled when she purred and nuzzled his face.
“Aye, a welcome journey,” Goleth said, but then his eyes darkened. “I fear what I’ll find in Ishur, though. The Jiserian Empire was fragmented and filled with fighting and politics and struggles for power. I sent my wife and children and parents to the mountains east of Ishur. I pray to the gods each morning and night for their safety. It will be a long journey back to find them.”
“Not long by dragon flight.” Talis grinned at Goleth and caught the expression of pride on Mara’s face. “Why don’t you help us rebuild Naru? We’ll save you countless days of travel over land—and spare you the danger of dealing with the remnants of the Jiserian army.”
“I won’t say no to the offer of help… And I forgot to thank you for including me back on Vellia. I’d be trapped there for a lifetime without the pleasure of seeing my children and beautiful wife again. I imagine the thanks goes to this little lady, bless you, Mara, for remembering me. Of course I will help you rebuild the fine city of Naru, I owe you my life!”
“Why are we waiting here, then?” Nikulo gestured at the rune tablets in Talis’s hands. “I’ve no memories worth repeating here on Chandrix. My family and future awaits me in Naru.”
So Talis set the four cardinal directions and laid another rune in the center and the remaining four tablets below the others. He cast a binding spell over the four cardinal runes and they ignited into blue flame dancing on the stone. Closing his eyes, he focused on the four destination runes and in his mind saw his family and his sister and the beautiful city of Naru shimmering in the morning light. He was ready. He cast the final binding spell and the world portal roared to life in front of them.
Talis held Mara’s hand and gazed at the love and admiration beaming from her eyes. Would everything between them stay the same once they leapt through the portal? Would her parents accept him as she did? Or was Naru in such a wreck that none of those old family rivalries would even matter any more? A tightening in his stomach and the memory of Viceroy Lei’s betrayal told him those rivalries still mattered.
“Whatever happens back in Naru, whatever we find, and whatever our families say, let’s keep together, ok?” Mara’s low was soft and determined. “I don’t want to be away from you again.”
“I promise…we hold the power of the heart of Ghaelstrom in our hands, and we can create the kind of world we want in Naru. Whatever can stop us?” After he’d said the words, the wrathful face of Jeremiah flashed in his mind, and the image of the Starwalkers, defiant and ruthless and proud. Something could stop them…but would they even bother? What Nikulo had done was an act of self-defense, wasn’t it?
He handed Goleth and Nikulo each a crystal. “For the battle and the rebuilding. We’ll use one crystal to plant underneath the Temple of the Sun—and rebuild it. The Goddess Nacrea will once again be invited to our city.”
“And what of Ishur, what of my city?” Goleth stared at the crystal with concerned eyes. “Will you aid me in the rebuilding of my city? Our two cities will be allies, imagine that! For the first time in many years there will be peace amongst our people. Do you swear?”
Talis grasped arms with Goleth and swore to help him rebuild Ishur. All the memories of long talks with his father came flooding back to his mind, of talk of trade and commerce with the Jiserians, of stories of the legendary city of Ishur and Carvina and the proud, exotic people of the south. He would finally visit the Jiserian Empire…
Charna stalked forward and sniffed the portal, as if recognizing the scents of home. She cast an uncertain glance at Talis and waited for him. Holding Mara’s hand again, he took a step closer, and together they jumped into the black and silver portal.
The City of Naru reeked of old smoke and sickness. From where they landed—on the hill where the remains of the Temple of the Sun stood—the once white and gleaming city lay burned and broken and ruined. It was the quiet that bothered Talis the most. The deathly quiet of the place. The sound of hopelessness and abandonment. The kind of sound you hear in a graveyard.
“I’m scared to go inside.” Mara gripped his hand so hard it hurt. Her arm was trembling and he could hear her breath go rapid and shallow. “I never imagined it would be this bad, this empty, this dead…”
“Maybe they fled the city.” Nikulo pointed at Talis’s backpack. “Use the map to find them, find our families.”
“And the Order of the Dawn…or what remains of the Order.” Out of the corner of his eye Talis thought he saw a shadow flitter past. He turned and spotted a dry weed tumble over the dry ground. Just a phantom, in a city where phantoms reign.
Talis retrieved the Surineda Map and focused his mind on his father and mother and sister. The map shifted west and moved over to the city of Ursula then north along the sea to a small village.
“My family is safe. Now, I’ll find your parents, Mara.” For some reason he pictured the angry face of Lady Malvia after he’d brought Mara home from the hunt and the wild, furious face of Viceroy Lei. The map seemed confused, switching around until it resolved and zoomed in on House Lei and a faint, dark light remained. From what Talis could tell, only Lady Malvia remained.
“I’m sorry, Mara. I can’t seem to find your father, and your mother is in Naru, in your home, but I t
hink she’s one of the undead.” He looped his hand around her waist and hugged her trembling form, and she wept on his shoulder, an aching cry, the cry of a daughter that never got to say goodbye to her father. The worst sorrow imaginable.
“I don’t care what he did…I don’t care that he betrayed us, he was still my father.” Mara clenched her fist and fought against Talis’s embrace, raising tear-stained eyes to the sky. “Why did you take him, Zagros?”
At the naming of the god the sky turned dark and clouds coalesced into storm, casting an ugly pallor over the land. Talis felt the cold shiver of death tingle through his spine and he stayed still, hoping and praying to the Goddess Nacrea that the Eye of Zagros would pass. But with the moving of the clouds the city stirred, and Talis heard the vast undertone of feet shambling through the city.
“Wait here!” Talis changed forms and found the feeling of dragon blood pumping through his veins pleasing. He took flight, beating his wings and eying the city below for signs of movement. And there, hiding amongst the shadows, were dark forms separating from the darkness, like a knife pulled free of its sheath.
He remembered the spell that Aurellia had taught him, of purifying the undead mind of its sickness and rot. His wings curled in and he plummeted towards the city and cast the healing spell on any figure or group that he found. He cried the wrathful cry of the dragon, his mouth casting flame and smoke to incite the undead to action. Landing in the center of the Arena of the Sej Elders, where once he’d hoped to fight and prove his worth in battle, and now he stood—a dragon, a healer, the protector of his city.
And they came—the undead answered his call and flooded into the arena. Useless and mindless, the sick former citizens of Naru, royals and poor, artisans and soldiers, mothers and daughters, all equal under gloomy skies. Talis vowed that once his work was done, once the sick were healed, once they’d rebuilt the city, the people would remain equal and free as in death.
Spell after spell seized the undead and they staggered as dullards, seemingly rising from a nightmare slumber to the shock of a nightmarish world. He caused the newly healed to sleep with the entrancing voice of a dragon: “Release your worries and rest.” And they obeyed, but the endless stream of undead cast hungry eyes on the cured, sleeping figures—but soon joined them. Talis felt warmth return to his heart when he spotted Nikulo’s mother and father joining them in their rest.
When silence returned Talis shrieked and called the undead again but heard no answer over time. So he changed forms back to human and searched the Surineda Map for any remaining undead in the city. There was only one weak light in the city—Mara’s mother—and he thought she must be close to a final death. He changed quickly to a dragon form and flew higher to the upper part of the city and landed in the street near the House of Lei. He returned to human form, and with the map guiding him, he entered the mansion and made his way to Mara’s parent’s room, where he found Lady Malvia’s pale and shriveled figure resting in her bed. He cast the healing spell over her and drained the black substance from her mind. But even healed she was close to death.
He raised his hands to the sky and prayed to the Goddess Nacrea, drawing in the golden light of the sun, and he prayed to the Goddess Tolexia, for wisdom in healing Lady Malvia’s mortal wound. His hands poured forth gold and white waves of energy into her dying frame. The light entered her nostrils and mouth and ears, filling her body with a soft luminous fire. Color returned to her cheeks and Talis felt the whisper of the gods in his mind: “She will be saved…the gods do listen to the prayers of humans, believe and do not doubt our power.”
Talis imagined Mara’s shining, thankful face and he found a rune to the Temple of the Sun and summoned a shadow portal. He stepped through and was happy to find Mara waiting and hopeful and ready to return to see her mother. They all leapt back into the open portal, and Mara joined her mother by her bedside, tears of happiness streaming down her face. They had come home. Naru would rise once again.
“Have you seen my parents?” Nikulo’s eyes were tense and uncertain, and Talis realized he should have done something earlier to allay his friend’s fears.
“They are safe—in the Arena of the Sej Elders, sleeping with the others. All the undead in Naru have been healed.” Talis felt relieved watching the anxiety release from Nikulo’s face. And Mara pulled the covers up tight around her mother’s sleeping form and gave Talis a thankful look. They were going to be all right.
Talis pictured them finding his family and those of the Order of the Dawn and bringing them back to Naru, of them rebuilding the City of Naru, and venturing out to the Jiserian Empire and helping Goleth find his family. They would rebuild Ishur and free their lands of plague. Once again those of Naru would ally with the Jiserians, and open trade routes to the south.
If Aurellia left them alone. If the Starwalkers overlooked Nikulo’s slaying of Jeremiah. Talis prayed that the gods would bring him favor and cause shadow of death to look elsewhere. If only for a moment, while the sweetness still shone in Mara’s eyes. He would savor this moment with her and they would live free from darkness…at least until night came.
From the dark corner of the room the gaping maw of Zagros overwhelmed his mind’s eye and Aurellia’s words voice echoed inside. “Without Mara, without her, you will live an endless life of loneliness and sorrow.”
He shook his head and tossed off the dark words, telling himself that for now they were young and many years remained ahead for them. Her concerned eyes sent him a question, and he came to her side and held her hand.
“Everything will be fine. We’re home and together—we can rest now.” But Talis knew nothing of their world would ever be the same. All the innocence and naivety of their world was gone. They were the leaders now of Naru and all the people would look to them for guidance. How does one run a city? Talis realized he never asked this of his father. He would need the help of all his people—the citizens of Naru were the city and its lifeblood.
“But are we really safe?” Mara’s questioning expression sent a note of doubt playing through his mind. Were they safe? Talis realized in his hurry to cleanse the people of the plague he’d only searched the Surineda Map for undead. What about the living? What about the necromancers or sorcerers who’d turned the living into undead…
Talis unfurled the Surineda Map and commanded it to display any living in Naru other than the citizens they had cured, and to show any dangers that might lurk in the city, any traps or wards that might exist. The map displayed no other lights than their own, and showed the city clear of danger.
But then the map zoomed west, to the place where the Temple of the Sun once stood, to the place where the portal had brought them back to their world. A silver and black light, pulsing with malevolence, moved south, slowly at first, then quickly sped as if flying away from Naru. The feeling of the light seemed familiar to Talis. So he asked the map something he’d never asked before: “Who is that leaving the city?”
And the Surineda Map answered, in a voice soft and delicate as the gentle wind of twilight: “You know who that is, ask your heart and it will tell you the truth. Darkness and death has returned to your world, he has returned with you through the portals.”
Fire and ice burned in his belly as the truth came to him at once.
The traitor Rikar had returned. And with him, the wrath of the Starwalkers.
Dragon Mage (Blacklight Chronicles) Page 18