Crossroads 04 - The Dragon Isles

by Sullivan, Stephen D (v1. 1)

  Mog shot forward, swimming as quickly as he knew how. He thrust his scaly body toward the opening, but it shrank even as he did so.

  His head slammed into the shimmering barrier. Fire shot down his spine, and his limbs twitched uncontrollably. His mouth felt as though it were full of sea urchins. Every scale on his body throbbed; his red eyes ached as though he’d rubbed them with sand.

  He blinked back the pain and saw the Veil closing before him.

  Summoning every iota of energy in his scaly flesh, he transformed into a sea snake and slithered through the hole just as it snapped shut.

  Exhausted, he became Mog once more and settled into the sand at the bottom of the tunnel beyond the enchanted barrier.

  His head felt clearer now, though his body ached as though a reef had fallen on top of him. The Turbidus leech burrowed into his mind howled with pain and indignation. It called to its dark mistress. Vaguely, like an echo in a typhoon, Mog heard Tempest respond.

  For once, he ignored her and simply passed out.

  Pure blue-white illumination flooded the tunnel ahead of them.

  “Moonlight!” Trip bubbled. “For sure!”

  The light rekindled the hopes of the weary fugitives, and they swam quickly toward it. An opening in the coral, distant and wavering, beckoned before them.

  The tunnel leveled out and they walked up, out of the brine, onto a sandy-floored passageway.

  Karista knelt at the water’s edge and spat the seaweed from her mouth. She sputtered and gasped for breath. “At last!” she said. “Thank the lost gods we made it!”

  Trip pulled the magical seaweed out of his mouth and stuffed it into one of the pockets of his snake skin vest. “Hope I won’t need that again anytime soon,” he said.

  “C’mon,” Mik said, leaning wearily against one wall of the tunnel. “It’s not much farther.” He glanced from his shipmates toward the sea elf and the knight.

  Shimanloreth stood solidly on his bronze legs at the front of the group, waiting for the others to catch up. Ula leaned on her borrowed spear, taking a moment to catch her wind. Mik noticed that a circle of dolphins tattooed on her smooth, blue shoulder glittered slightly in the moonlight.

  “Where do we go from here?” he silently wondered. An image of the huge blue-white diamond appeared in his mind, but he pushed it aside.

  He and Trip helped Karista to her feet, and the three of them staggered after the sea dwellers and toward the light. It took them only a few moments to walk up, out of the tunnel and into the fresh air once more.

  They emerged on a tiny coral atoll, its surface just tall enough to avoid submerging during high tide. They came out of the tunnel facing west, toward the way they’d come. Back, beyond the Veil, the ocean boiled with the sea dragon’s fuiy. Stormclouds clashed overhead, and lightning flashed down into the breakers with frightening regularity. The crash of thunder and the roar of the winds seemed oddly distant— unreal—as though the storm were part of another world.

  Somewhere below those waves, the people of Reeftown were still fighting and dying. Mik felt glad that he and his friends were no longer a part of that terrible struggle. He turned to the east, away from the storm, and his heart filled with wonder.

  Overhead, the moon shone brightly amid a field of twinkling stars. A mantle of purple and deep blue draped the sky, fading to violet and pink near the eastern horizon. The sun had not risen yet, but already its glow painted the skyline with the colors of the coming day.

  The ocean lay still and quiet, reflecting the moon and the stars in its mirror-like, azure surface.

  Dotting the placid waters, like emeralds on an opal sea, lay the Dragon Isles.

  PART II

  THE DRAGON ISLES

  Seventeen

  Beyond the Veil

  Tempest’s massive jaws snapped shut, 1 splintering the coral tower into shards. She chewed twice, to stop the annoying thrashing of the building’s defenders, then swallowed.

  It had been a long time since the dragon had enjoyed herself so thoroughly. Around her, Reeftown lay in shambles. Blood stained the night sea black.

  The sea elves fought back against the sharks, razorfish, Turbidus leeches, and Tempest’s cadre of dragonspawn. But with the titanic dragon leading them, the Reeftowners stood little chance.

  Tempest bit another elf in half, savoring the sweet blood as it rolled down her gullet. She butted her massive head against a bony woman trying to poke her with a spear. The woman sailed through the water and crashed into a crumbling coral wall. The wall collapsed, burying the spear carrier.

  The dragon surged forward, shattering an old shipwreck that had been converted into a tavern. The patrons hiding inside scattered like minnows. Tempest gulped them down one by one.

  Something tugged at the dragon’s mind.

  It took a few moments for her to recognize the familiar thoughts calling inside her brain.

  The Veil! One of her minions had actually made it to the Veil’s final harrier!

  In an instant, Tempest ripped the vital knowledge from the informant’s mind. Instantly, the path before her became clear.

  Turning, she surged toward the distant reef, leaving her minions to fend for themselves.

  The Veil shimmered ahead of her, penetrating reef and sea and sky. At its base stood a huge stone dragon, seemingly carved from the very bedrock. The statue’s diamond eyes blazed with the power of ancient enchantment.

  The sea dragon hissed her anger and dived forward. As she approached, the Veil’s magic flickered, as though momentarily weakened.

  Tempest flung herself against the barrier, summoning all her arcane might as she did so. The Veil shuddered, yielded slightly, then wrapped itself around the dragon’s huge form.

  Lightning flashed from both sea and sky. Tempest felt the Veil weaken, then spring back. She pushed forward, her titanic muscles burning with the effort. The barrier surged around her, turning the dragon’s own force back against her. She flayed it with spells, but the magic ricocheted back against her iron scales. Tempest roared with fury and indignation.

  The enchantment of the Veil swirled, twisting her mind and body. The evil fish who had accompanied her flailed about aimlessly, lost and confused. She tried to call them, but the Veil buzzed in her head, confusing her commands.

  Through the whirlpool energies she saw the blazing eyes of the ancient statue. With a powerful slash of her flukes she propelled herself toward it. Energy from the diamond eyes leaped up, meeting the sea dragon head on.

  Her mind reeled. She lashed out against it, smashing coral and stone with her talons and flukes. The sea bed shuddered with the assault. Currents swirled around her like a whirlpool. She summoned lightning, maelstroms, lifesucking darkness, and deadly rip-tides, and blasted them against the Veil’s power.

  Again she struck, again and again. Weariness drew over her mind, but still she turned and attacked. She battered her body against the magic until her scales bled. The world became a timeless, crimson haze.

  Then die resistance ceased.

  Tempest opened her yellow eyes, triumph filling her rotten heart. She looked for the hated isles and saw—

  The reef, nearly a league away through dark, clouded waters. At its base a statue with glowing eyes, standing unmolested on the sea floor. And beyond the statue, her dragonish senses detected the Veil, still standing.

  She had failed.

  Once more, the ancient magic had tricked and confused her. Once more it had deceived her senses. The dragon howled her rage, belching a scalding torrent into the brine.

  She devoured those of her minions unfortunate enough to be lurking nearby. The Turbidus leeches ringing Tempest’s neck hissed with delight as they gobbled up the scraps.

  By the time Tempest finally regained her composure, the morning sun was just peeking over the corner of the world.

  “How?” the sea dragon wondered. “How do those small, weak creatures penetrate the barrier when I cannot?”

  Very faintly, i
n the back of her mind, she heard Mog’s answer: “A diamond,” he said. “They used an enchanted diamond. They summoned its magic, and the barrier parted.”

  “Yes!” Revelation dawned in Tempest’s mind.

  “The black diamond would not be large enough for you, great mistress,” Mog told her in his thoughts.

  “No,” Tempest agreed, “surely it is too small. There is one larger, though. The hated dragons placed an ancient diamond at the root of the Veil. It must he the key that opens all.”

  Pictures formed in her reptilian mind, a huge, glowing gem shining in the sky and a temple sunk beneath the waves.

  More pictures came, elves and humans, and even a tasty kender, searching for the lost treasure. Tempest smiled.

  “They will find the key to the ancient magic,” she said to Mog. “And when they do, the Dragon Isles shall he mine.”

  Eighteen

  Vistas of Glory

  Sunrise lit the mountains of the Dragon Isles crimson and gold, making the snowy peaks ghtter as though they were on fire. The archipelago dotted the glassy sea like exquisitely formed gems set down on an azure mirror.

  Some isles lay so near that Mik could hear the whispers of the surf upon their shores. Others were so distant as to he only mirages on the far horizon. A few were tall and proud, thrusting towering mountains high into the air. Others crouched low in the water, like enormous basking sea turtles. A number of the isles looked big enough to hide large populations of people and even dragons. Some were so small that they could have disappeared entirely down a leviathan’s gullet. Lush greenery tumbled down the sides of even the smallest keys.

  Standing at the edge of this glory, it was hard to imagine a more perfect morning. No clouds besmirched the clear blue sky overhead. The sounds of the storm to the west had died away. A warm breeze wafted the earthy scent of the distant shores to the small band of fugitives.

  “It’s beautiful,” Mik said, his voice low and welling with emotion.

  Trip and Karista, too dazzled to say anything, nodded their agreement.

  “So it seems,” Shimmer murmured.

  Ula leaned against her spear and gazed out over the quiet sea. “I wasn’t sure I’d ever see this place again. I wasn’t sure I wanted to.”

  “Imagine the wealth,” Karista whispered. “Imagine the glory of opening a trade route to these isles.”

  Ula laughed. “Imagine being smashed on the reefs, or being devoured by dragons, or destroyed by the Veil in faying to bring an unwanted ship here,” she said.

  Karista scowled. “We passed the Veil ourselves. Surely there is a way for a fleet of ships to do it. You said yourselves that island privateers use crystals—like Mik Vardan’s diamond—to sail back and forth through the Veil.”

  “With the blessing of the dragon overlords,” Ula said.

  “And such blessing is not easily won,” added Shimmer. He rubbed his left shoulder absentmindedly.

  Mik smiled. “On a morning this glorious,” he said, “anything seems possible. Try to win your trade deal, Karista. I wish you well at it. Who’s to say you can’t? We all deserve a share of good luck after what we’ve been through.” He stretched his arms wide to welcome the coming dawn and, in his mind, saw a glittering white diamond.

  Shimanloreth stared out from behind his bronze helmet. His orange eyes looked grim. “I fear our trials are just beginning,” he said. “Lakuda won’t be pleased when she finds I’ve helped set you free....”

  “It would be just like that witch to send someone after us,” Ula said. A grim smile cracked her pretty lips. “Not that they’d have much chance.” She twirled her borrowed spear through the air, gauging the feel of the weapon on land.

  “You think she’d waste her time?” Mik asked. “She said we weren’t much of a catch.”

  “Lakuda is a proud woman,” Shimmer replied. “Offended, she might do any number of foolish things.”

  “And Shimmer leaving is bound to offend her,” Ula added, with a sly glance at the knight.

  “Assuming,” said Karista, “that Lakuda has lived through the dragon’s attack.”

  “What’s that?” Trip asked, pointing to something high in the sky.

  At first, the creature looked like a distant bird circling above them. It grew larger as it descended—larger and larger still. The rising sun glinted off its beating wings and its armored back. It burned orange in the dawn, a creature of living fire.

  “A dragon!” Ula said, making it sound like a curse.

  “Sleek!” said Trip.

  Awe and fear battled within Mik’s heart, and his jaw went slack. True, the dragon was beautiful, but he found it hard to share the kender’s enthusiasm.

  Beside him, Karista gasped with terror.

  “Brass, from the look of him,” Shimmer commented. “He must patrol this area.”

  As he spoke, the dragon dived at them. The fugitives—all but Shimmer—instinctively ducked as the creature swooped low overhead. They felt the wind from its huge wings and heard the breath heave in its monstrous lungs. Its brass scales rattled like the armor of a battalion marching to war. Its talons, each as long as man’s arm, shone like polished swords. The wyrm’s green eyes blazed with fierce intelligence.

  The dragon arced back into the sky, turning northwest toward one of the nearby islands. As it winged low over the isle and disappeared, Mik, Trip, Ula, and Karista rose once more; Shimmer gazed stoically after the departing beast.

  “Did you see?” Trip said enthusiastically. “That was amazing!”

  “We saw,” Mik said, suppressing a shudder. He took a deep breath to regain his courage.

  Shimmer rubbed the chin of his faceplate. “Kender have an odd sense of fun.”

  “Do you think one would give me a ride?” Trip asked, jumping up and down with glee.

  “In its stomach, perhaps,” Ula replied.

  Mik looked at Shimmer. “You said it was patrolling. Patrolling for what?”

  “Intruders. Outsiders,” Shimmer replied. “People like you.”

  “And now that it’s seen us,” Karista asked nervously, “what will it do?”

  “Consult its superiors,” the bronze knight said. “Find out if it should kill you, capture you, or leave you he.”

  “We should,” Ula said, “hide out under the nearest key until nightfall.”

  “The water’s not an option,” Mik said. “The magic of the seaweed is exhausted. Trip and Karista were lucky to make it out of the tunnels. We can’t go back. There must be some other way off this reef.”

  “We could swim,” Ula said.

  “What about sharks?” Karista asked.

  Ula turned to the bronze knight and said, “Shimmer, can you carry us to that atoll?” She pointed to a tiny island nearby.

  Shimanloreth glanced from the beautiful sea elf to the others. He rubbed his left shoulder self-consciously. “Not all of you,” he said. “Not all at once.”

  “How could he carry us across the water?” Trip asked.

  Ula ignored him. “Then start with the aristocrat,” she said. “I’ll swim.”

  “I can swim, as well,” Mik said. He ran his fingers over the surface of his fish necklace and was disturbed by the number of gemstones missing. He took a deep breath and put his doubts aside.

  “Boy, that’s something!” Trip blurted. “A moment ago, the sea was clear. Now there’s a mist rolling in faster than any I’ve ever seen. The Dragon Isles are full of amazing tilings!”

  Mik and the rest turned and saw a low bank of white fog scudding over the water toward them. It rounded the closest island and came with the speed of a gale-driven stormcloud, heading straight for the narrow reef.

  Ula cursed. “Too late, now.” She set her spear and gazed at the approaching cloud. “Brace yourselves. This could be bad.”

  Mik and the others—save Shimanloreth—drew their weapons. The bronze knight merely folded his arms and stood waiting.

  As the fog drew closer, strange sounds echoed across
the waves. First came a vague, rhythmic thrum—chanting or singing perhaps. A pulsing splashing sound followed, mingling with the thrum. Finally, a metallic creaking, like huge door hinges swinging back and forth, completed the weird chorus.

  A bright yellowish shape took form in the center of the cloud. It was long and sinuous, raised up in the front like the head of a huge serpent.

  “Another dragon!” piped Trip.

  Shimmer put his armored hand over his eyes to block out the glare from the rising sun. “No,” he said. “It’s Lord and Lady Kell. You really might want to leave, Ula.”

  “I’d never give them the satisfaction,” the beautiful sea elf replied. She tightened her grip on her spear.

  “Back oars!” a woman’s voice called over the chorus of strange noises.

  The cloud of mist parted, and a huge dragon-headed trireme surged toward the reef. The ship was nearly twice as long as Kingfisher. Bright brass scales adorned its sides. Its three banks of oars moved in perfect unison, sculling the huge craft effortlessly through the water. Below the carved dragon head on its bow lay a wicked-looking brass ram.

  The great ship turned gently and came to a stop thirty yards away from the coral reef. A muscular, auburn-haired woman sauntered from the deck to the ship’s stem. Her stylish brass armor revealed nearly as much of her impressive anatomy as it covered. She leaned on the rail and regarded the castaways.

  “Stand to and prepare to come aboard,” the woman called. “We’re taking you into the custody of the Order of Brass.”

  “We don’t recognize your authority,” Ula called back. “We’re free people, and we’ll do as we please. Perhaps if you ask nicely, we’ll accept a ride. Which way are you headed?”

  “I recognize you, Ula Landwalker,” the woman said. “You’re a well-known malcontent.”

  “Ula Drakenvaal, ” the sea elf corrected. “My family never formally disowned me. I still maintain my rights as a citizen of the Isles, Misa Kell.”