by Peter Last
Senndra sat down and stared at the flames. As she continued to think about her dragon, her eyelids drooped, and finally she nodded off. Sleep, however, was not the reprieve that it normally was. As she slipped into the land of unconsciousness, she found herself floating in her room. Looking down, she could see herself sleeping. She felt an unknown force begin to pull her, and rafters flew by as she passed through the roof and was flung out into the open sky. The force that was drawing her stopped with a jerk, and she found herself floating upright as though standing on thin air, suspended about a hundred feet above the ground. The force abruptly started to pull her again, this time toward the north. The mountains rushed beneath her until they dropped away to a plain which quickly turned into marshlands. In the distance, Senndra could see a city positioned in the swamp, and instinctively she knew that it was Vollexa Temp. Dark clouds surrounded the city, and a stench worse than that of the swamp assaulted Senndra’s nostrils. As Senndra had passed over the marshland, she had not noticed how quickly she was traveling; however, now it was obvious that she was traveling at breakneck speed. She began to descend as she neared the city, and her destination became evident; if she did not stop, she would smash headlong into the tower in the middle of the city. The tower seemed to be the source of power that was pulling her, and her speed increased as she approached it. She reached the tower and passed through a window, a mere slit in the stone wall. A large circular room was on the other side of the window, and her speed decreased rapidly as she entered, bringing her to a halt in the middle of the room, hovering about ten feet above the floor.
The room was well furnished and appeared to be comfortable for whoever lived in it. Indeed it was obvious that someone lived there; a bed was in the center of the room directly below her, and off to one side was a table with dishes that still had some food on them. On the other side of the room a desk and some bookshelves stood near a wall. The shelves contained dozens of books, but Senndra could not make out any of the titles from where she was. The desk had a handful of books piled up on it along with some paper, quills, and ink. Several chairs were scattered throughout the room, and a bench rested near the foot of the bed. Off to one side were facilities for bathing. Pictures and embroidered wall hangings helped make the room look more inviting; however, little could be done to counteract the trapped feeling of the room which came from having only a few, very small windows.
Senndra could see no doors, physical or magical, anywhere in the room; however, almost immediately after she had completed her quick search of the perimeter, a man appeared through the wall. Behind him Senndra now saw a faint glimmer that she had missed on her previous inspection. The man appeared to be an elf, though from her vantage point, Senndra could not positively identify his race. He walked to the bench by the bed and lounged on it, waiting for something. Senndra did not have to wait long to find out for what he waited; a smooth, oily voice came out of the darkness. It did not come from any one direction, but seemed to come from all directions at once. Immediately Senndra knew that it was coming from the very walls of the tower and that this was the voice of Molkekk, bane of Magessa.
“Regulus, the time has come,” Molkekk’s voice said to the man on the bench. “Gather the full force of my army and launch a full scale invasion on Magessa.”
“I had anticipated your command, my lord,” Regulus said. “Therefore, I have already begun to muster your army. The dragons have already been sent to Magessa to take care of an academy for training dragon riders. The rumor is that more than half of Magessa’s dragons reside in this location, so a decisive victory there will give us a distinct advantage in the war to come. As for the bulk of the army, almost all of your goblins have arrived. Messages have been sent out to all of the peoples that are under our control; however, only a few nomadic tribes of elves have arrived. I anticipate that most of our reinforcements will be here within a week.”
“Excellent,” Molkekk’s voice said. “When they arrive we will immediately begin our offensive. Do you have a battle plan for the conquest of the nation?”
“Indeed, sir,” Regulus answered. “The plan, which is already in progress, is to split the army into three sections. One of these will attack the dragon riding academy in Belvárd. We will give them just enough time to begin to respond to the attack and then, when their troops are on the move, we will use the other two sections of our army to attack Saddun and Belmoth, the two gateways into their country. News of the secondary attacks will take time to reach the capitols, and when it does, they will have great difficulty finding many troops to send to aid the cities. All in all, they should not be very hard to defeat.”
“The cities should not be very hard to defeat?” Molkekk said in an angry voice. “Have you so soon forgotten the defeat at Saddun? A few thousand untested soldiers kept the entire might of the dwarf army at bay long enough for reinforcements to arrive. By now, there will be even more soldiers at each city.”
“Even in the unlikely incident that we are defeated at one city, we will almost certainly overrun the other,” Regulus said in an even tone. “The dwarf army which seemed like an unstoppable force was defeated; therefore, I have increased the number of our soldiers. Each of our attack forces will have half a million soldiers as well as siege equipment of every variety. With these massive forces, they should not be able to withstand either attack much less both of them. As our soldiers arrive here, I will send them to reinforce our armies, so that no matter how many of our men the enemy kills, there will always be more to take their place. Added to that is the fact that we will have the sea on our side.”
“Very well, proceed with the attack,” Molkekk’s voice said. “But make sure that you do not fail me.”
“No sir, I will not fail you,” Regulus said. He bowed to the floor, but Senndra was already floating away.
She passed through one of the room’s window slits and began to pick up speed as she traveled back toward Magessa. This time she was so close to the ground that the soles of her boots brushed the tops of the short swamp vegetation. The mountains of the Apathy Range drew nearer, but even so, Senndra’s altitude remained the same. All at once she was upon the foot of the mountains, and her speed slowed slightly as she plunged into an opening in the rock, a bare fissure in the side of a cliff. She continued to move forward at breakneck speed, the complete darkness of the tunnel making it impossible to determine how far she traveled or how long the journey through the mountain lasted. By the time she exited the tunnel, she was exhausted. She was conscious enough to realize that it opened into a cave set high on a cliff. When she left the cave, her forward momentum ceased and she began to rise until she recognized the slopes of the mountain that the academy was built upon. Her eyes were so heavy by now that she could no longer fight the urge to shut them. Once her eyes closed, she sank into a deep sleep.
******
Josiah tossed and turned on his bunk. Sweat drenched his body, yet he did not awaken. In his dream he stood atop the wall of Saddun with a sword in either hand. He glanced back and saw a group of old people and young children. All around him lay thousands of young men, apparently slain in the battle and directly in front of him was a large army of dwarves. The dwarves were moving toward him, but at a leisurely pace, apparently not in any hurry to reach him. He caught sight of crossbowmen in their ranks and cursed silently. Bolts from the crossbows filled the air as they flew straight toward him. They slammed into him, piercing armor and flesh wherever they contacted, sending flares of pain through his body. Doing his best to shut the pain from his mind, he struggled to stand up. The dwarves charged him with vigor now, bearing down on their seemingly helpless foe. With pain coursing through his body, Josiah stood his ground and raised both of his swords. Several bolts had pierced his legs, rendering him immobile, so he waited for the dwarves to reach him. The moment they came within his sword range, he started swinging, laying out three dwarves with his first stroke. His second swipe was blocked by the shield of a dwarf who returned the blow, bur
ying his ax deep into Josiah’s side. Josiah gasped in pain, slumped forward, and fell to the ground. The dwarves stampeded over his body, their iron-shod boots cutting into his flesh and crushing his bones. He could hear the shrieks of those he had tried to protect as the dwarves reached them and began to kill indiscriminately.
Josiah bolted up in bed. His breath was coming in short gasps, and his heart was pounding. Slowly his breathing and heartbeat returned to normal, and he lay back in the bed. He stared at the bunk above his and wondered if his dream meant anything. Already it was fading from his memory, and he wondered whether he would be able to remember it the next morning. He tried for half an hour to get back to sleep, yet it eluded him. Finally he gave up, rose from his bed, and stepped out of the barrack and into the open air. It was cool outside so Josiah ducked back inside for his cloak. Then he walked to the center of the city were a stream cut the city in half, north and south. He walked onto the bridge that spanned the water and sat down in the middle with his legs hanging over the edge.
The night was clear, and hundreds of stars were visible in the sky. Josiah lay on his back and tried to find images among the pinpoints of light. He had found this to be one of the most relaxing things in the world and often employed it in an attempt to distract himself from memories of his battle with the dwarves. Normally it was an effective method of distraction, but tonight there was no diversion from his thoughts. Eventually he gave up and closed his eyes.
Sleep overtook him almost immediately, and he dreamed again. He stood on the battlefield of Saddun again, but this time the battle was over. Dead from both armies littered the ground, and there was nothing living for as far as he could see. Slowly he began to make his way toward one of the remaining buildings of the city, moving carefully so as not to step on any bodies. The structure was smoking and it was obvious that it had burned in the recent past. As Josiah walked by, a large section of roof collapsed inward expelling a cloud of smoke and soot. The building was just another evidence of the ravages of the enemy army that had occupied the city, or so Josiah thought until he saw the entrance. The doors had been nailed shut and fastened with massive lengths of chain. They were not locked, and Josiah wasted no time in ripping them loose from the doors. Next were the nails. They were harder, and Josiah strained at them for several minutes until they began to give way. Slowly the doors creaked farther and farther open until, with no warning, they swung completely open. Josiah went down hard but scrambled to his feet and away from the doors as an avalanche spilled from between them. Charred bodies of all races, ages, sizes, and genders tumbled out of the building, barely recognizable through their burns. A mixture of feelings, anger, sadness, and hate burst from his lips in an earsplitting bellow.
Josiah sat up so quickly that he almost fell off of the bridge. He quickly glanced around the city, but none of the death and destruction of his dream met his eyes. Instead he saw the orderly buildings of Saddun. A bell rang to indicate the changing of guards. To the east, the sky was beginning to turn pink as the sun prepared to rise above the mountains.
Josiah shook his head to clear away the vision of his dream and slowly stood to his feet. He walked back to his barrack and began to prepare for the day ahead of him. First he showered in the facilities behind the building. The water was cold, but he didn’t mind. When he had finished, he put on his uniform and strapped on the weapons that went with it. Next he looked at the soldiers that slept in his barrack.
“No one should still be asleep at this time,” he said out loud. With both hands he grasped the cord of a bell that hung just inside the door and began to swing it as hard as he could. A harsh clanging filled the building, pulling the cadets from their sleep. Quickly they scrambled out of bed and dressed. This whole process took less than two minutes, at which time the entire population of the barrack stood at attention in four rows between the bunk beds. Josiah looked over them and suddenly had an idea.
“Get those sleepy looks off of your faces,” he shouted, “we’re going to be running before breakfast, so get moving double time.”
Josiah led the cadets out the door of the building and into what had only minutes before been the beginnings of a beautiful day. Now, however, clouds blocked the sun and threatened rain at any moment. The four rows of cadets wound their way through the city until they had reached the south wall. They followed the wall to the west end of the city and turned north, cutting through the buildings until they arrived at the mess hall. Just as Josiah stepped inside, rain began to come down outside. In less than a minute it was pouring, and Josiah watched as his men passed into the mess hall in perfect order, paying no attention to the rain. It took almost fifteen minutes for all of them to get into the hall and sit at their tables. Those on kitchen patrol quickly set the tables and served the food, while the other cadets talked. Josiah walked to a window of the hall and stared out at the rain. It was coming down in torrents now, and the few cadets that were still straggling into the hall were soaking wet.
Josiah turned from the window to go to his table when the window behind him exploded in a shower of glass and rain. Josiah threw his hands over his head and ducked as the glass shards rained down around him. Finally he was able to stand up, and he turned to examine the broken window as several people rushed to make sure he was not hurt. A small tree was lodged in the window frame, having been blown over by the wind. Josiah grasped a branch and pushed with all of his might. He was quickly joined by several other cadets, and together they pushed the tree out of the mess hall window. Already other people were bringing materials with which to patch the hole for the time being. In practically no time, the window was boarded up, and two cadets were sweeping up the leaves and broken glass while another one mopped up the rain that had formed a large puddle on the floor. Josiah sat at a table and took a draught of water to help calm his nerves. His heart was beginning to slow to its normal rate, but his nerves were still on edge. He took a few deep breaths; it was unlike him to not be able to control his feelings. Glancing at the boarded up window, he wondered if it was the storm that made him uneasy or if something more sinister lingered in the air.
******
Senndra jerked awake at the sound of boots scraping across the floor. She sat up and saw immediately that Rita was not where she had been when Senndra had fallen asleep. Senndra threw a quick glance around the room and spotted her standing in front of the closet. Rita turned around when Senndra groaned and stood to her feet.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” she said in a cheerful voice.
“It’s morning?” Senndra asked.
“I don’t know,” Rita answered. “It’s still pouring down rain, so I can’t tell anything right now.”
“Where’s Sowpa?” Senndra asked, suddenly realizing that the dragon was nowhere to be found.
“She was acting weird, so I let her outside,” Rita answered.
“Acting strange how?” Senndra asked.
“I don’t really know how to explain it,” Rita said. “It wasn’t like anything that I have ever seen. Her scales started shifting, and her wings unfolded. She kept making noises like she was trying to growl, but couldn’t for some reason.”
“Hmm, that isn’t like anything that I have ever heard of,” Senndra said. “I wonder…” She was interrupted by a gasp from Rita.
“There is danger of some sort,” Rita said in a panicked voice. “Sowpa’s feelings are rank with fear.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Senndra advised. “She probably just ran into an especially large snake or something. Feddir used to scare me like that all the time until he became familiar with the world around him. Now, if Feddir starts to feel fear, then we need to start worrying.” Without warning, fear and excitement simultaneously flowed across the mental link that attached Senndra to Feddir. Senndra’s eyes widened at the strength of the feeling, but what surprised her more was when these feelings turned to ones of anger and hatred. Quickly she grabbed her weapons and began to strap them on.
“Feddir also
has feelings that seem to indicate danger,” Senndra told Rita over her shoulder. “Get dressed and come with me.” Even before she had finished talking, the campus bell that was reserved specifically for emergencies shattered the silence. Rita needed no more encouragement, and in less than a minute she was armed. Together the two girls cautiously stepped outside and were met with the most terrible sight that either had ever seen. Dragons of every color circled the academy, battling above them. Balls of fire flashed through the air, sometimes contacting dragons and sometimes lighting a building or group of trees on fire. Griffins were also interspersed throughout the fighting, though their effect was not quite as magnificent as that of the dragons. They dashed in and out of the dragons, slashing wings whenever they could and occasionally attacking a wounded dragon. Half a dozen of them grouped together and attacked a dragon head-on. Three caught fire before they ever reached their target, and the other three practically exploded in a cloud of feathers as the dragon’s razor-sharp claws wreaked havoc on them.