Dragon Rise
The Dragonwalker Book 3
D.K. Holmberg
Copyright © 2018 by D.K. Holmberg
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Also by D.K. Holmberg
Chapter One
The fire mage temple loomed in front of them, darkness shrouding it in shadows, but even in the darkness, Fes could feel the power pushing off it. Fire magic pulsed distantly from within it, but with enough strength that he could detect it.
“This is stupid,” he said to Jayell.
“Stupid or not, I won’t be of any use to you without any relics to use.”
Fes sighed. That was the only reason he had been willing to attempt this. It would be a collection, the kind that he once had done for Azithan and now would be doing on behalf of Jayell—and himself. If they were successful, they would be able to have enough items that they wouldn’t have to worry about a risk of attack. Jayell would be better equipped to defend herself, using dragon magic to do so.
There was another reason for their coming here, though for Fes it was riskier. He wanted to see for himself whether Azithan had been telling the truth about what he’d taken from the dragon plains.
“I have done a lot of ridiculous things in my time,” he said. “But this will be among the most ridiculous.”
“It’s not as dangerous as you think. I know you don’t believe that you can use your magic well enough to protect yourself, but—”
Fes shook his head. “That’s not it. I know that I can use the connection I have to the Deshazl, but I don’t have the same control over it as I need to if we confront one of the fire mages.” And by coming to the heart of their power, they risked confronting more than just one of the fire mages.
“If we do this right, we won’t have to confront anyone,” she said.
Fes watched her as he reached for one of his daggers, running his finger along the dragonglass blade. She was a lovely woman, and they had spent the better part of the last three months together, mostly running. Since leaving the palace, and escaping Jaken’s discovery, Fes had continued on the quest for some way of reaching Griffin, but Azithan had him too well hidden. There wasn’t anything that he had been able to discover. Any time they had tried, they ran into more challenges, most of them tied to the fact that they didn’t have enough power compared to the others within the empire they would be facing. Worse, word kept reaching him of the rebellion. After his betrayal of them, he needed to ensure their safety as much as he could.
It was why he was willing to risk this. He knew that he shouldn’t, but where else were they going to find a collection of dragon relics so easily?
“And you don’t want me to simply go in the front door,” Fes said.
“There really isn’t a front door,” she said.
“There’s got to be something,” he said.
They crouched near the end of the street. Sweeping out in front of them was an open lawn. A dozen or more twisted trees grew here, though none of them were very tall, certainly not enough to provide cover. It was still better than anything he’d experienced in the dragon fields.
The fire mage temple was enormous. It rivaled the palace, though that wasn’t surprising. The fire mages were the key to the empire’s power, so ensuring they were adequately trained was the way that the Empire went about ensuring that they maintained control. Made entirely of a dark stone—not dragonglass, he didn’t think—night shrouded it in shadows. Occasionally, the pulse of power came to him, a connection that he still didn’t fully understand, and he resisted the urge to carve through the spells.
The city surrounding the temple was nothing extraordinary, though he imagined the people living here thought otherwise. They had passed normal-enough homes and shops, the kind that he would find in Anuhr. They’d been forced to slip past soldiers, but that had been easy enough, and none of the soldiers were members of the Dragon Guard.
“There are only a few entrances,” Jayell said, reminding him of what she’d already told him.
They had gone through this before, and he knew the layout of the temple, at least as well as she could remember it. This was going to be a difficult job, and with only the two of them going, it would be challenging. If he were to plan something like this and not worry about how many people he would bring, having four or five others with him would be helpful. Some could provide watch while others could provide a distraction if it were needed.
“If we can reach the south entrance, the hallway is a little narrower, but there aren’t as many fire mages in that part of the temple. If we encounter any, you should be able to cut through their magic before they draw any more attention.”
“I like how you want me to do the hard work,” Fes said.
Jayell looked at him, frowning. “You know that I can’t—”
Fes chuckled. He had to do it now, as there wouldn’t be a chance to do so later. “Once we find a few more artifacts, then you can. And in here, we’ll come across mages who have much more power than I have ever known.”
“I will do as much as I can, but…”
“I understand.”
He took a deep breath, focusing on the temple. They would have to move out over the open lawn, and doing so would require that they rely upon Jayell’s ability to conceal them. It was possible that any attempt to use that kind of magic would be detected—especially here—and he wanted to be ready if that were to happen.
Withdrawing his daggers from their sheath, he squeezed their hilts. They were smooth and they provided comfort.
“The daggers and not the sword?” she asked.
“The sword is too noticeable,” Fes said.
“And you don’t think your daggers are noticeable?”
“They aren’t quite as noticeable.” There was something to using the daggers that was easier for him than the sword. The daggers had been a part of him for as long as he had lived, and a gift—the only memory he had of his parents—and he had much more experience using them than he did with the sword.
But then, the sword might allow him a better ability to carve through powerful fire mage spells. If it came down to it, he wanted to be ready and hoped the daggers would be enough. He’d faced powerful fire mages with only the daggers, so hopefully that would be enough this time, too.
“Are you ready?” she asked.
Fes nodded, squeezing the hilts of his daggers and feeling the strange power within him. It coursed through him, a connection to some ancient magic, a part of him that he still didn’t understand.
Then again, Fes had
always known that part of himself. It was the part that he had always had to suppress, the rage and violence that allowed him to perform great feats, but it was a power that terrified him.
As Jayell held out a small dragon relic—a curved length of dragon claw—her spell washed over them. He glanced over, and she nodded.
They started forward, shoulder to shoulder, walking straight toward the south door of the temple. There was no point in hiding, no point in trying to conceal themselves, primarily as there was nothing here that would provide any real sort of protection. No, if they were seen, they would be attacked and have fire magic rained down on them. If it came to that, he hoped his connection to his magic would be enough to carve through it.
Nothing came.
“It’s working,” he said.
“I know that it’s working,” Jayell said.
“I’m just telling myself that.”
She pressed her lips together in a frown, and they continued moving, heading toward the temple. As they approached, the temple loomed over them, an enormous structure of all dark stone that gleamed in the faint moonlight. It looked almost black, though he had scouted it during the daytime and had seen how the stone was more of an ashy gray. It reminded him of the stone that was found in the dragon fields. Even the heat that radiated from the temple reminded him somewhat of the dragon fields.
“This is all supposed to remind people of the dragon fields, isn’t it?”
Jayell nodded. “I doubt the fire mages would ever admit it, but that’s the rumor. The first fire mages wanted that reminder, as if they needed some way of recalling what it was like when they once had access to the dragon fields.”
“They still have access,” Fes whispered.
“Only the most powerful have access. The rest of the fire mages don’t. They could approach the dragon fields, but without someone with real power with them, they weren’t able to do anything.”
Fes stared up at the temple. He imagined windows, knowing that there were several dark glass panes along the face of the temple, though not many. No light glowed in the few that were there. “Do the trainees know?”
“Do they know that the temple is designed to remind them of the dragon fields?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t, but it wasn’t something that I asked about. I never learned until leaving, much like I never learned many things until after I left. It’s possible others knew—or do.” She raised a finger to her lips, quieting him. Her spell might mask their movements, but apparently it didn’t do anything to mask the sound of their voices.
As they approached, different spells pulsed against Fes’s awareness. He could feel them, one after another, each of them slamming into him. As they had made their way closer, he had become increasingly aware of that power. It was something that he hadn’t paid much attention to as they were crossing the lawn toward the temple, concern about the approach and someone noticing them overriding any sense of his ability to detect magic, but now that they were in the shadows of the temple itself, Fes could feel it and was completely aware of those spells as they were utilized.
“What is it?” she whispered.
“It’s just…”
His breath caught when one particularly powerful spell washed out from the temple.
He turned, looking out over the lawn, and squeezed the hilt of his daggers. Had they been out there, that spell would have struck them.
“There are defensive spells.”
“No,” Jayell said. “There are fire mages who are practicing. There aren’t any—”
Fes squeezed her arm, cutting her off. “I feel them,” he said. “There are defensive spells. There was one that would have struck us had we not crossed.”
“Are you sure?”
“I can feel the use of magic,” he said. “And I’m certain about that.”
Jayell clenched her jaw and turned her attention back to the temple. “Then we will have to move quickly. We don’t want someone to catch us inside the temple.”
Fes smiled to himself. Jayell had become stronger—much stronger—than he had ever thought that she would. When he had first met her, she had been focused on helping Griffin, but experience over the last few months traveling together had demonstrated a different deep reserve to her strength. They were tied together on this mission, both of them wanting to know whether Azithan was telling them the truth, and Jayell wanting to find Griffin, a Deshazl boy she had promised to protect. Would she continue to stay with him once they answered those questions?
She frowned at him. “What is it?” she mouthed.
“It’s nothing.”
She reached the door and a spell built from her, subtle but with enough strength that she sent it coursing into the lock, triggering it open.
When he rested his hand on the door, he realized that it might not have opened without her spell. The door was tied to a fire mage, which meant that only Jayell would have been able to open it. Would he have been able to do anything to force it open?
“I don’t know if you could,” Jayell said, almost as if reading his thoughts.
He pushed the door closed behind him, wondering if he was sealing himself inside the temple. There were limits to what his daggers could cut through, limits to the type of spell that he could overcome. Even the sword would have limits.
“Where now?” he asked.
She pointed up. “The storerooms will be above us.”
They wound through the temple, the hallway narrow as she had promised, and passed by a few closed doors. Fes could feel magic coursing out of them. Most of the spells he picked up on were powerful, some of them incredibly so. The fire mages on the other side of those doors would be formidable. He was thankful that he didn’t have to face any of them.
Jayell continued to twist her way up the stairs, pausing every so often. Fes couldn’t tell what she did when she paused. Was she listening? He didn’t feel any magic from her, so doubted she was preparing any spells, but there seemed to be an intent behind her pausing.
“What is it?” he asked after they topped the fifth rise.
She placed her finger to her lips, shushing him. “I’m trying to remember,” she whispered.
“Remember? I thought you—”
Jayell shook her head, and Fes cut off.
Rather than arguing, he followed her. What point would there be in arguing with Jayell, especially in the tower? They were already here and had committed themselves to this task. He didn’t know if he would be able to get out on his own. He thought that he could wind his way through the tower, but could he do so without detection?
At least he had the advantage that he could pick up on the sense of magic being used around him. Without that, he would be in even more danger.
Somehow, Jayell had helped them avoid detection, but he thought her ability to do so was more by chance rather than anything intentional.
They stopped at another landing, and she turned to him, nodding.
It would be here.
When they had decided to break into the temple, they had done so with the belief that there would be stores of dragon relics that would be beneficial to Jayell. Fes wanted to know whether Azithan had brought the other dragon relics that he had recently acquired, those that he had claimed from the dragon fields, emptying them completely, but there was a part of him that believed Azithan.
Then again, maybe he only wanted to believe Azithan. The fire mage had been reasonable with Fes and had treated him well, certainly better than Fes had any right to expect. And he had protected Fes from Jaken, allowing them an opportunity to escape. Had Azithan not done that, they would have been captured, and he didn’t like what would’ve happened to them then. Betraying the empire came with a price.
Another powerful spell surged, this one somewhere below them.
“We should hurry,” he whispered.
“Is someone coming?”
He focused on the sense of the fire magic but didn’t detect anything more. “Not yet, but
there are enough people still awake—”
“Many of the fire mages will practice at night,” she said. She had told him this already, and Fes shouldn’t have needed the reminder, but with his racing heart, it became difficult to focus on anything other than the sense of the magic pounding around him. It came from enough different places that there would have to be dozens of fire mages, all of them with significant power.
If all of them converged upon Fes and Jayell, there wouldn’t be much that they would be able to do to counter the action. They would be at their mercy.
The fire mages he’d known hadn’t had much mercy.
The narrow hallway stretched out before Fes, and he kept himself pressed along one side, not wanting to separate from the shadows. One hand rested on the hilt of his dagger, running his finger along the smooth surface. The dragonglass soothed him, and he needed that soothing now, anything to provide him with the necessary mindset for this task. It was dangerous—far more dangerous than anything he had attempted before. And it would have been the kind of thing he would have refused to do were there any other option.
Jayell made her way along the hallway ahead of him, her steps light and confident with the direction she was taking even though she had more at risk than him. She didn’t have any interest in returning to the fire mage temple, but she did it for him, helping him get the extra information that he wanted—no, he needed.
She might serve the Priests of the Flame, but she once had been a fire mage and had trained here. Her dark complexion and raven black hair didn’t fit with some of the fire mages that Fes had seen but did help her to blend in. At least, as much as anyone could blend in when trying to hide while sneaking along hallways.
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