“You’ll pay for that, human,” the cat-man made the word sound like an insult.
Before the youth could stop the beast, it launched itself at Delno with incredible speed. Geneva roared and began moving toward them. Delno got his Dragon Blade up in time and caught the creature in the left shoulder while it was still in the air and then used the momentum of the cat-man’s flight to guide it away from himself. Another dragon screamed in the night. Delno didn’t recognize the voice, and figured it was the boy’s dragon trying to get to the fight.
The cat-man had yowled loudly as the blade bit into its shoulder. The last of these creatures he had fought had chewed narcotic plants to deaden any pain and give itself courage; apparently this one wasn’t drugged. Still, though, it did recover somewhat and got to its feet. Before it could attack again, Delno threw his hands forward and jumped, executing a forward roll that covered the distance between him and the cat-man in one move. Much to the astonishment of the beast, Delno came out of the roll with the Dragon Blade pointing forward and stabbed his opponent right through the upper abdomen at the solar plexus. The tip of the sword penetrated all the way through and severed the spine as it did. The man-beast’s legs collapsed, almost taking the Dragon Blade out of Delno’s hand. As he withdrew the saber, the cat-man tried weakly and in vain to claw him.
Delno turned to the sound of another scuffle behind him, and found Adamus had disarmed the boy and Rita was holding her sword to the young Rider’s throat. A quick check with Geneva told him that once the scuffle had started, they had simply informed the boy’s dragon that they would kill him if she tried to intervene. She had screamed once in despair and then given up.
At that point, Nassari came out of his tent and said, “What’s going on here? You people are making enough noise to wake the dead.” Then seeing Rita standing there naked and threatening the younger man, he whistled appreciatively and said, “If you are going to have one of those kinds of parties, you could at least invite me.”
Several moments later, with Delno and Rita now dressed, and the young Rider, Paul, tied up, and his dragon, Mariah, under the watchful eye of the other three dragons, they discussed what to do now.
“I say give me a little time with him, and I’ll get some useful information from him,” Nassari said.
Delno had never quite seen his friend like this. “Nassari, I won’t have the man tortured, not even threatened,” Delno replied. “He came as a message bearer; it wasn’t he who attacked me.”
Paul looked at Delno and said, “You already know the name, so I might as well use it. Warrick won’t be happy that you have taken me prisoner. You’re right; he sent me as a messenger. We came to you under a truce, and you killed one of his emissaries.”
“Under a truce!” Rita exclaimed. “You walked into our camp like you owned the land we’re sitting on and brought that abomination with you. When you couldn’t control it, it attacked Delno for its own reasons, and he had no option but to kill it or be killed by it.”
“He goaded the Felanx into attacking him. He obviously knew they are hot-tempered and high-strung,” the young man responded.
“The only thing we know about those beasts is that they have attacked us every time they have been given the chance to do so,” Rita spat back.
“Enough! This is getting us nowhere,” Delno said. Then, turning to Paul, he asked, “What is this message you have brought?”
“Let me go and I will tell you. You can’t keep me prisoner; I am under the truce of parlay. That’s a rule of war, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
Delno walked over and knelt beside the young man. “Boy, I was a seasoned veteran of war before you were a Rider. When you enter an enemy camp under truce there are rules, the first of which is don’t try to sneak into their camp in the dead of night like assassins, as I believe that beast originally intended,” Delno pointed at the corpse of the Felanx. “By rules of war, you make it obvious that you want to talk by getting your enemy’s attention with a white flag, and wait for an invitation to come ahead before you do so.” Under Delno’s harsh stare the younger man began to sweat with fear. Delno continued, “Now then, let’s stop all of this nonsense and you just tell me your real purpose here.”
“Well,” the youth swallowed and said, “We were supposed to scare you, not kill you. We really do have a message from Warrick, though you weren’t supposed to have heard that name yet.”
“Forget the damned name, boy,” Delno replied, “I had figured who was running the show on your side of this long ago. Get on with the message.”
The young Rider flinched as though Delno had threatened to slap him, “All right. I was to make it look as though the Felanx was barely under control long enough to scare you. Then I was supposed to tell you that if you travel south and join us, you will be made a commander. If you choose to ignore the offer, he will hunt you down and destroy you.”
“How were you supposed to intimidate us with just one of those beasts when four of them couldn’t destroy us the first time they were sent in the dead of night?”
“Well,” he replied, “we were supposed to take you unawares. The talisman you took from me was supposed to keep your dragons asleep while the Felanx tied you all up before you could stop him.” Then he looked a little sheepish and added, “We figured you would be afraid of the Felanx because you’d never seen one before. I guess you ran afoul of some of the six of them that Warrick helped Orson create in Llorn. They were all supposed to be kept a strict secret.”
Delno looked at the talisman for a moment, and then he examined it with his magic the way that Jhren had taught him. At first it just glowed with magic the way it had when Paul had been wearing it. Suddenly, he felt as though he were riding a dragon in a head-long dive. There was a rushing in his ears and a feeling of falling, and then he was looking at the back of a man who appeared to be about fifty to sixty years old. The place seemed to have a familiar feel; then he realized this was very similar to being in the Dream State with Geneva.
The man said, “Well, report. Since you’re here, that idiot Felanx must be dead, not that I’ll miss him, but what went wrong? Did you deliver my message? You didn’t kill Corolan’s grandson, did you?”
The man shot the questions out rapid fire before he turned around to face the intruder. When he saw Delno, he froze and much of the color drained from his face. He just stared for a long moment.
“Well, from your questions and your reaction when you saw me, I take it you hadn’t planned on encountering me here. Since I already know your name, and I’m pretty sure you know mine, I guess we can dispense with the false pleasantries. This is rather interesting” he continued while looking around at the changing hues of the landscape. “Took a lesson from the dragons, I see; created your own little Dream State.”
“Oh, it’s like the Dream State, except that here I control everything. Only those I permit may come here, and I control what happens,” Warrick replied.
As the man spoke, Delno felt something trying to get into his mind; he clamped down hard and Warrick visibly flinched as he was rebuffed. Delno began to look for a way out of this place. At first there appeared to be none; then he remembered the talisman. It was the gateway. He felt for his body and could sense that he was still standing in camp holding the talisman in his hand.
“Well,” Delno replied, “like so many other things you have thought to be under your control, I doubt that control is as absolute as you believe it to be.”
“We will see, young Rider, we will see,” Warrick responded. “I know much of what you have done. You have beaten that fool Simcha; he always was such a worthless rider; self-righteous and totally sure of himself to the end, no doubt. Of course, he was also very easy to manipulate. I will admit that you, on the other hand, have been a bit of an enigma, up until now.”
“Only up until now?” Delno asked. “Have me all figured out, do you?”
As he spoke, he continued to use his magical sense to examine the talisman. If he concentrated hard, he co
uld see the portal that brought him here. If he could keep the man talking, he should be able to figure out how reverse the flow at will. The only other option would be to destroy the thing, but that could be dangerous. Also, by applying his will to the object, he could see around himself in the physical world. It was a bit distracting and strange, as if this Dream State was overlaid on his normal vision and he could see and hear both at once.
“Oh, I’ve had you figured out for some time now,” the older Rider said. “You are simply like your grandfather: you have some noble idea that you can twist and shape the world a little at a time and control events in the long run to suit your desires. You see, we’re more alike than we are different, you and I.”
“Really? I don’t see it that way. You seek total control by any means possible, even if it means using the beast-men to slaughter half of the population of the world, and you have no regard for the dragons, either. There is no creature you won’t callously use and then cast aside when they are no longer needed. You have no allies, just tools.”
He had it now. It was a matter of blending the magic that Jhren was teaching him with the psychic abilities he gained from his connection with Geneva. He could not only reverse the flow and leave when he wanted, he could project the image he was seeing and allow the others gathered to see and hear what was going on. He decided to do that and keep the connection open for a little longer.
“We are all just tools, my young friend,” Warrick answered. “You and I are tools of fate. Those I use are just extensions of that; their lives only have what meaning I give them. On your side, you have taken the role of leader in opposition to me. You would sacrifice your allies as willingly as I if the need arose.”
“The way you are so willing to sacrifice the young Rider you sent to kill me? Tell me, Warrick. Do you even know the boy’s name?”
“I know his name, though that is completely unimportant because his true name, the name I have given him, is Sacrifice. If he is not sacrificed now, to the task I have assigned, then he would simply be sacrificed later in the same cause. However, you have mistaken my intentions; you were not to be killed. My message to you was simple: join me, serve me for the greater good of the world, and we can spare many of your friends’ lives in the process.”
“The greater good of the world?” Delno said. “After all of the death and destruction you’ve helped bring about, you will forgive me if I am somewhat skeptical of that assertion.”
“You are just like your grandfather: you claim to look to the long-term good, but you fail to see what is right under your nose. Do you realize that the food sources of the countries you are trying to protect will decline and fail over the next few generations? That if drastic measures aren’t taken, human beings will cease to exist on this world?”
“I’ve seen the signs of such collapse. I don’t see how killing off half the population and allowing the Roracks to live on unchecked to prey on the survivors will solve the problems, though. I prefer to find a solution that is less violent and more aimed at ensuring the survival of the human species rather than supplanting that species with one that shouldn’t even have been created in the first place.”
Delno could see his companions watching. They were completely unsure of what they were seeing. Rita looked as if she wanted to do something, and he held up his hand to keep her from making any attempt to interrupt or interfere.
“Oh, I have no intention of allowing the Roracks to take control. They are merely tools, as I have said. When they have served their purpose, I will make them turn on each other. Then when they have nearly killed themselves off, I will eliminate the survivors.” Warrick smiled and continued, “You see, my very young Rider, I have had over a thousand years to think about this problem; ever since Corolan took me into his confidence concerning how affairs were going among the people of this planet.” At Delno’s look of uncertainty he said, “What, you didn’t know that Corolan had taken other Riders into his confidence concerning his grand plan to bring parliamentary rule to the world? I believe I was the first, but he also confided in Brock, and together they were planning to bring others in. You see, most of Corolan’s plans have come to fruition: that’s why I ordered him destroyed and had his Dragon Blade brought to me.”
Delno tried not to let his surprise and anger show on his face and almost succeeded.
“Does it upset you that I had your grandfather killed? Well, I wouldn’t worry too much about it; he was old and would have died soon anyway. I believe that he may have been getting a bit senile, too. He refused to see that the population had to be thinned and those in power needed to be brought under the control of the real ruling class: the Riders.”
“And the Riders, of course, need to be under your control,” Delno replied.
The sarcasm was lost on Warrick. He said, “Of course they need to be under my control. I am the oldest and wisest Rider. I have Corolan’s Blade. I am the one who has learned how to use the compelling stone that controls the Roracks and other semi-intelligent beasts.” He paused and then added, “I am obviously the rightful ruler of the world.”
Delno laughed and responded, “Well, that is certainly a nice speech, but your plans seem to be going a bit off, from my perspective.”
“Oh, I admit that I underestimated you, but it won’t happen again. In a way, you did me a favor anyway. By eliminating Simcha, you merely saved me the trouble that he would have caused later. This way I can blame you and not have to explain to the other youngsters under my influence why he had to die. Saying that our enemies killed him goes down so much better than trying to explain that he was too self-righteous to be allowed to remain a living threat to my power. You see, he had the ridiculous idea that he could restore the individual kingdoms to their former state of monarchy. I couldn’t allow that idea to settle in after all of the work that I put into pruning the power and purity of the ruling families in the southern kingdoms.”
They stood looking at each other for several moments. Warrick finally spoke. “Well then, youngster, what’s it to be? Will you join me and save us both a lot of trouble, or am I going to have to kill you?”
“Well, you may find that I am much harder to kill than you suspect, and as for joining you, I’ve seen how you treat your allies. So, since I face death either way, I think I’d prefer to do things on my own and continue with the immediate plan of stopping you.”
Warrick shrugged and said, “So be it.”
He pointed at Delno and energy shot out of his hand and hit the younger man right in the sternum. Delno felt an almost crushing weight in his chest. He felt as if his heart might explode. Warrick smiled and said, “You see, boy, I really do control everything that happens here.”
Delno didn’t even take a second to ponder how the old Rider could make a physical attack in a psychic realm—he simply reacted. He looked for energy to use to repel the attack. The only energy he found was the energy that Warrick was using against him. Desperately, he reached for that and was rewarded by a lessening of the pressure on his chest. Then he turned the energy around and sent it back at Warrick, hitting him full in the face with it. It worked; the older man was so surprised that the attack abated completely.
Warrick was hurt; Delno could see a faint trickle of blood coming from the man’s nose. The older man quickly recovered, though, and Delno didn’t waste time waiting around to see how this contest would go. There would be another time when he was more ready for a fight. He reversed the flow of the portal and was pushed out of Warrick’s psychic realm. Warrick tried desperately to stop him but failed. Delno found himself standing near the campfire with the talisman still glowing in his hand. Rita rushed to his side.
He looked at the talisman and realized that something was wrong. It was not only still glowing with energy, it was beginning to pulse like a malevolent heartbeat, and the energy within it was still growing. Delno became alarmed and looked for a way to dispose of it quickly. He was a bit disoriented, and so wasn’t even sure of what direction h
e could throw the thing. He quickly stepped to the body of the Felanx and shoved the talisman under it. Then he threw his arms around Rita and pulled her down on to the ground on the other side of a fallen log near the fire. Everyone else followed his example and sought what shelter they could find. The talisman exploded, raising the body of the Felanx off the ground almost a foot and nearly blowing it in half. As Delno had hoped though, the body had absorbed most of the explosive force, so no one was injured.
He got up and checked Rita, then himself. Once he was certain that they were both all right, he checked everyone else. The young Rider, Paul, was the most shaken of them all.
“That bastard,” Paul said. “He told us how we would usher in a new age, the age of the Riders, when Riders would rule the lands and all would live in peace,” he said. “What he planned was for himself to rule the Riders and the rest of us to be his enforcers. Named me “Sacrifice,” did he? Well, I’ll show him a sacrifice.”
Delno let the man wind down. He decided that he would question Paul later concerning all that Warrick had said. The idea of some kind of stone being empowered to help him control the beast-men was a bit of news that he had a feeling Warrick would come to regret revealing. Geneva was looking over the remains of the cat-man.
“Killing it wasn’t good enough, Love? Had to blow it up as well?” she asked.
“I had to do something with the damned rock or that could have been any one of us,” he answered. “Too bad the talisman was destroyed; I would have liked to have Jhren take a look at it.”
“I would like you to have Jhren with you next time you have to deal with that maniac. Also, in the future we only deal with things like this together; don’t go off alone like that. You could have been killed,” she admonished.
“Next time I have to deal with a maniacal tyrant bent on world domination in close quarters, I will be sure and take you with me, Dear Heart,” he replied.
“So,” Rita asked, “what now, Handsome?”
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