by T. K. Chapin
Looking back to the etchings, she saw another one; it was that of a giant beast of some sort. Rubbing her index finger against it, she noticed it had two heads. Moving around the summoning stone, she saw an array of different monsters etched along the stone. “I understand the dragon etching, but what do you make of these other ones?” she asked looking over at Lance.
He shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe those other creatures were summoned along with the dragons? It’s hard to say since we haven’t had a dragon live in anyone’s lifetime that is presently alive in Belstrom.”
Tessla watched as Lance retrieved a blade from his pouch, followed by vials that were filled with the potion. Tessla suddenly began to get nervous, but the thought of her son and Illadari helped calm her nerves. She went back to a memory that she had at the tip of her mind. It was when Her, Illadari and Kessler had went to the Limestone Shore for a picnic with Ponio, his wife Vanessa and their children Hinley and Natalya. The children played down by the shore trying to jab fish with sticks, while the adults sat and enjoyed the warm day as they conversed about the local town gossip. Tessla smiled as she thought about how simple and carefree her life was at the time. She only wished she would have appreciated it more when she was living within that window of time. Being jolted from her memory, three men in robes and hoods that covered their faces approached the summit from the north.
“Who are you?” Lance demanded as he clenched the dagger in his hand and stepped back.
“We are the Vul,” the three brown robed men said at the same time as they moved to surround them in three points. “We cannot allow you to stop the dragon from being born.”
“The king and queen already do,” Tessla said. The three men laughed and looked at Lance. Tessla peered over at Lance to see his head hang low as he looked back at her and mouthed he was sorry.
“What happened?” Tessla asked angered.
“The king and queen are dead by the hand of Melvin, the eldest brother of Lance,” one of the members of the Vul said, as he looked up at the sun before continuing. “They have been dead for about two hours. We got the message delivered by one of our messenger falcons a short time ago.”
Tessla’s heart twisted in a knot as she thought of her parents. She had not been happy with them for the marriage they attempted to force on her, or the ridiculous rules they had placed on her while she lived there, but she never wished for them to die. Tears welled in her eyes as she covered her mouth and hid her face away in her sleeve.
“Why do you wish to have a dragon born you fools?” Lance asked with a clench jaw. “The dragon will rein destruction across the lands of Belstrom.”
One of the Vul stepped forward towards Lance and said, “The dragons cleanses the land through fire. The corruption everyone has wrought on the kingdom needs to be cleansed.”
“People will die!” Lance said as he began moving his hands to cast a spell with his dagger still in hand.
The Vul member that was a foot away from Lance extended his hand out quickly to Lance’s chest and hit five parts of his torso. At first it appeared to do nothing as Lance stood idly. And then suddenly, Lance’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell over. Tessla shrieked in terror and hid her face deeper into her sleeve.
“Don’t do this!” Nikolas shouted as he stepped towards the Vul member that had killed Lance.
Chapter 22
Staying crouched as he approached the summit, Illadari peeked over to see Tessla and Nikolas speaking with three robed individuals. What is that about? He wondered as he tried to assess the situation. Glancing between their feet, he could see a body lying on the ground and he ducked down fearfully.
How am I going to fix this? He wondered as he looked up at the sky. My beloved is surely headed for death. Unsure of what to do next, he bowed his head and said a silent prayer to Omad.
Omad, Grant your protection over Tessla. She’s the love of my life, my lady and my best friend. May she find herself in your grace during this time.
Opening his eyes, he looked back over and saw a leaning rock that hung over the summit. Maybe… he thought to himself. Running his eyes along the edge of the red rocks nearby, he spotted an area he could climb up onto the boulder that hung over the summit. Maneuvering along the rocky edge off the path, he circled around the summit, being careful not to unsettle any rocks to alert the brown robed men. As he climbed up the rock, he saw the men standing together with their back towards him next to one another. Glancing up, he prayed quickly thanking Omad.
Omad, thank you for hearing the prayer of your servant.
Looking down at where the boulder was, Illadari could see that it was not attached to the wall of the mountain fully, and could likely be easily loosed with enough force.
At the top of the boulder he peeked back over and began waving his hands silently trying to get the attention of Tessla. She noticed him, and quickly looked away from him so that the robed men were not alerted. Illadari waited for Tessla to make some sort of distraction that would bring them under the rock. As he waited, he smiled thinking about how they would be reunited within a few moments and life could go back to the way it was.
Hearing Tessla speak, Illadari listened closely as she began to talk about what the dragon could do. She went on and on about the destruction while she walked across the summit and positioned herself under the rock. “The Vul is weak,” she said as she spat on the ground attempting to agitate the robed men. That’s the Vul? Illadari thought surprised.
One of the men said, “Stop!” Then went over to Nikolas and kicked him in the chest knocking him backwards against a rock, rendering him unconscious. The three men approached Tessla, and as they did, she began to back up closer to the stone wall that was under the rock. “You will die first!” One of the men said as they closed in on her.
“Now!” She screamed dodging sideways from under the rock. Illadari stood up and jumped on the boulder, dislodging it from the wall and onto the three men, smashing them underneath. Illadari fell with the boulder and into the rubble.
Coming to, from being unconscious, he woke up to droplets falling from the cloud Tessla had created from her Song of Healing Rain. Stretching out his arms as he sat up, she leaned in and hugged him firmly. Grabbing her hair, he began kissing her passionately in the midst of the rain that was healing him.
Opening his eyes, Illadari saw the man who had been kicked in the chest by the Vul arise to his feet. “Who’s this?” Illadari asked looking at him.
“That’s Nikolas,” Tessla said looking back over her shoulder at the man. Placing her hand on Illadari’s chest, she continued, “He… we… have a purpose for being here.”
“And what is that?” Illadari asked looking at the both of them. Tessla glanced over at Lance as he lay dead on the red stone floor. She walked up to his body and bent down on her knees.
“Lance was going to help us do a ritual…” Tessla said.
“A ritual for what?” Illadari asked confused.
“To stop the dragons from coming to Belstrom ever again…” Tessla said looking up at Illadari as he approached her side. She looked over at the rubble and continued. “The men you crushed were the Vul… they were attempting to stop us from conducting the ritual.”
“How’d they know you were here?” Illadari asked.
“I have no idea… They probably had been watching the summit for some time since…”
“Since what?”
“Since my parents were killed…” Tessla said rising to her feet. “They are dead Illadari… my parents are dead.” Tears welled in her eyes as the words fell from her lips. He could see the pain in her eyes, even though she didn’t have much regard for them; Illadari knew she had to be dying inside from the loss. Hugging her closely, Illadari kissed the side of her head as he grabbed her hair gently.
“Let’s go get Kessler… assuming you know where he is. We can get him and get home love,” Illadari said grabbing her hand, he turned to leave.
“I do, but
we need to finish this ritual…” Tessla said letting her words trail off. “I can’t let a dragon be born Illadari. I need to do this.”
“What do you need to do?” Illadari replied looking into her eyes, curious to what the ritual was
“Nikolas and I need to willingly die-” she said before Illadari interrupted.
“No way!” Illadari said, grabbing her hand again. He tried to take her to the path that led down.
“Listen…” Tessla said stopping her feet from moving in the direction Illadari was attempting to take her. She grabbed onto both of Illadari’s hands and rubbed them with her thumbs as she looked into his eyes and said, “Lance has resurrection potions for us to come back to life. Once I’m back alive, we can go to Ada in the Darkwood Forest and she can help us get Kessler back. We will have our life back and we will have saved the dragons from killing the innocent people in Belstrom.”
“I didn’t think you cared about Belstrom,” Illadari said.
“In my early years, I didn’t care about anyone other than myself. Now I care about you and Kessler more than anything in this world. A dragon would in danger all our lives, and I can’t let that happen.”
“Well…” a man’s voice from the stairs said as he approached the three of them.
“Who are you?” Tessla asked looking over at the tall and slender man with silver hair.
“I’m Nari, One of Lance’s brother…” He said glancing at Lance’s body on the ground. “Oh brother…” he said as he bent down at the body. “I knew you’d fail. You were always a bit on the weaker side.”
Illadari grabbed onto Tessla’s shoulders and pleaded with her, “I know those resurrection potions don’t always work. It’s dependent on Omad’s grace.”
“It will work,” Tessla said confidently looking into both of Illadari’s eyes. She smiled and kissed his lips. “I have hope.”
“And... I don’t really care,” Nari said standing upright from kneeling beside his brother. “Honestly. Don’t take the potion, take the potion. Either way these two are going to die.” His eyes looked back at Lance on the ground. “His death will not be in vain.” Illadari began to motion his hands to cast and Nari raised a single hand in the air, and pushed gently his fingers in the air, the slightly push caused Illadari to be pushed violently backwards onto the floor of the summit. Unable to move, Illadari remained pinned against his will to the ground by electrified restraints.
“No!” Illadari shouted angered.
“Please let me speak with my husband… You need me willing to die in order for it to work, and I will not be willing if you do not let me speak with him for a moment,” Tessla pleaded with the wizard.
“Fine,” Nari said turning away.
Tessla walked up to Illadari and got down on her knees. Touching his face, she let her fingers slide against his rugged beard that had grown out. “Love…” she said softly trying to calm Illadari’s rage as he fought against the restraints burning him as it electrified him.
He couldn’t believe the calmness Tessla possessed. “I need to protect you! And I can’t!” Illadari shouted.
“Shhh…” she said softly as she continued to caress his face.
“You will die!” Illadari said as he began to sob. Shaking his head, he said, “I can’t live without you… I can’t lose you Tessla!”
“The potion will work love,” Tessla said smiling.” Tears welled up in her eyes for a moment and she wiped them as she continued. “What good is our life in Silvermeer if everyone I love is in danger? Trust me Illadari,” she said as she grazed his cheek with the back of her hand.
“What about Kessler? How could he go on without a mother?” Illadari said.
“If I resist now, Nari would surely kill us both, and probably track down everyone that means anything to us and kill them also. Do you want Kessler to not have a father?” Tessla asked. “Like I said back in the Darkwood Forest, he needs his father. If I die, you will need to be sure to raise him. But we shouldn’t speak like that, because I’m going to survive.”
“I can’t lose you…” Illadari said as he broke out into more tears and his lip began to quiver. “You are the whole reason for everything in my life. Please don’t do this!”
Tessla bent over to Illadari, and kissed him softly on the forehead. “I love you,” she said as she rose to her feet. Walking back over to the summoning stone, she sat down on the edge of the stone and Nari gave her the potion to drink.
“No!” Illadari shouted from his restraints. The electricity was burning his arms as he tried to push through it. Hopelessly, he watched as Tessla sat on the summoning stone.
“Promise me,” Tessla said before taking the potion to her lips.
“Ugh…” Nari said with a heavy sigh. “What is it you want?”
“Let my son, my husband, brother and our friend Haden live freely in peace with within Belstrom in Silvermeer and New Haven.”
“Your brother is alive? I didn’t know that. But ok, that’s easy enough I suppose,” Nari said. “Drink up.”
Taking the potion down in one gulp, Tessla lied down on the stone, and closed her eyes. Retrieving the dagger from Lance’s side, Nari took the blade and stood in Illadari’s way so he could not witness the death. Fighting the electrified restraints, Illadari huffed and moaned as he kept trying to break through and in the process burnt his arms.
Nari proceeded to pull Nikolas over to the stone and laid him next to Tessla. Giving him the potion and then killing him, Nari set the blade down on Nikolas’ torso and walked towards Illadari.
Rage filled Illadari as Nari took a seat next to him only a few inches away. Still trying to fight the restraints, Illadari shouted. “You won’t get away with this!” Nari’s lip perched and glanced over at Nikolas and Tessla’s bodies on the stone.
“Pretty sure I just did. I suggest shutting your mouth if you want your boy to live,” Nari said sharply. Sighing, he continued, “Now we wait to see if they come back to life. For a priest, you sure have little faith.”
Chapter 23
Waking up, Illadari thought he had dreamed the whole thing as he awoke in his bed, at his home in Silvermeer. The smell of eggs cooking in the kitchen and his boy talking out at the table, overwhelmed Illadari with delight as he leaped from underneath the covers on his bed, and went into the kitchen. Kissing his wife on the cheek, he smiled as he took a seat at the table.
“I’m so happy to have you two in my life!” he said excitedly picking up a fork.
When Tessla turned around to look at him, he noticed a stream of blood draining from her ear and down the side of her cheek. Startled, he quickly rushed to her side and just as she fainted, she fell into his arms.
“What’s wrong with mommy?” Kessler asked looking up at Illadari.
“I don’t know!” Illadari said worriedly looking her.
Then suddenly, Illadari awoke and was in the Fireblade Mountains on the summit. He had fallen asleep, and when his eyes landed on Tessla on the summoning stone, he cringed as he felt his heart was being bludgeoned with a blacksmith’s hammer.
“Why?” he moaned as tears streamed down his face. Realizing the restraints that were on him were loosed, he rushed to Tessla’s side and began shaking her. “My love! Wake up!” he shouted at her as he put his hand behind her head raising it up to his face. He put his cheek against hers, “No, please… Omad… Please let her live!” he said kissing her through the tears that poured from his eyes. Shaking her, he said, “Let’s go get Kessler and go home… Come on… just get up and let’s go!”
Her eyes remained closed and her breath did not return to her. He dropped to his knees at the base of the summoning stone and put his elbows up on the stone to pray.
“Omad… I commit Tessla to you,” Illadari cried out.
“Illadari?” a man’s voice said from behind him.
Unsure of whom it was, Illadari stood up and cleared the tears from his eyes as he turned around and approached the two men. It was Nejik and Leroy, Neji
k rushed pass Illadari and to Tessla. “What happened?” Nejik shouted from the summoning stone back at Illadari.
“Some ritual happened that the Curo Wizards made her do…” Illadari said heavily as he looked back at Nejik.
“What? Why?” Nejik said storming up to Illadari.
“It was to stop the dragons…” Illadari said turning away from Nejik.
“You had hope Illadari,” Leroy said looking him in the eyes as he turned to him.