Choice

by Gary Stringer

  With their keen dragon sight, they could just make out Fire himself standing in the distance. Having sensed their presence within these magical boundaries, he awaited them. On a flat plane to the left, the bright sun reflected sharply off something metallic, something silver - Callie.

  “Go to her, Loric,” said Air, gently. “Let me talk to Fire alone for a moment.”

  Loric nodded and banked - not quite as smoothly as he might have done and had to adjust his trajectory when he overcompensated.

  I’ll work on that later, he promised himself.

  Air alighted beside Fire with her usual grace and precision. “Greetings, Fire,” she offered, inclining her head as a mark of respect for the most Elder of Elder Dragons. Time usually meant little to a dragon, but Fire had been in his present form since the Penta Drauka magic was created. Neither dragon could have given that time a measurement the way humans did, but measured or not, it was impressive.

  “Ah yes, greetings, sister. A rare pleasure, hmmm? Yes indeed. A rare and delightful pleasure, my dear. I see you've taken Loric firmly under your wing, yes?”

  “He's a very capable student; a pleasure to teach. Aqua thought so, too.” “Is that so? Hmmm, had to give him a push or two myself, yes? Got the hang of it pretty quickly after that, though.”

  “Fire, time is short. Much is happening in the world and I believe it concerns us as much as anyone else.”

  “My dear, you know perfectly well we cannot interfere.”

  “Says who? I hear that non-interference line so often, but nobody says why.”

  “Ah, some things just are, hmmm?”

  “I can't accept that, Fire, you know that. But if you won't help with wider issues, will you at least stretch the rules to allow us to help poor Callie? Forget rules: this is a question of compassion, surely!”

  “Hmmm…perhaps, my dear, perhaps. What do you want me to do, exactly?”

  “Simple: help me to get her out of your Realm and into the world outside. We've got everything covered from there to transport her to the aquatic kingdom. Aqua is standing by there to heal her.”

  “If he can,” Fire pointed out.

  “Of course he can - it's what he does! Now, willyou help us? As I say, time is short.”

  “Time? That's twice you've used that word,” said Fire, reproachfully. “Living with humans has taught me that there are occasions when time is significant even to a dragon. Please, Fire, will you help us? At the very least, we'll get her out from under your feet and remember she's not really supposed to be here at all. And-”

  “Alright, alright!” Fire interrupted. “Anything for some peace and quiet! It's getting so a dragon can't call a lair his own!" His stern expression softened and Air realised his obstinacy had been mostly just for show. "Of course I'll assist you," he said in a gentle, kindly voice. "I was always going to. That's why I helped young Loric to get past that predator, yes? Sustaining the barrier around my realm against that monster requires much of my energy at the moment, but I had enough to spare for a bit of illusion magic so he could get to you and continue the Penta Drauka.”

  “I didn't know you'd done that,” Air admitted.

  “Then how did you think he got past that thing out there, hmmm?”

  “I never really thought about it," Air admitted. "I maybe just assumed he fought his way past.”

  Fire snorted. “Ah, he's good, but he's not that good, yes? Hmmm, even I wouldn't want to take my chances alone against that thing!” In truth, his Fire Rage was constantly goading him to combat the threat, but his good sense held him back. For one thing, he had an injured silver dragon to take care of. The fact that she should never have been in his realm was irrelevant. She was there and that made her his responsibility. More than that, though, even with Callie gone, what if the predator killed him? He wasn't just concerned with his own hide; he would risk that in a heartbeat. What worried him was the possibility that the monster's magically reflective nature might destroy the Penta Drauka magic. What if he died and the magic died with him? What would happen to the other four Elders without the anchor of the Fire Elder's power? It was impossible to know; there had never been a threat like this before. It wasn't an irrational fear. After all, Mythallen was a huge, sprawling continent, and one of many land masses in a world filled with dragons. Given an infinite number of possibilities, then, why should the dragon predator be lurking right outside his front door?

  “If it's that dangerous, can we get on with it, please?" Air pleaded. "My Sapphire Knights are out there.”

  “You brought dragons?!” Fire was incensed.

  “Of course! How else do you think we're going to protect Callie as my Cavalry transport her to safety? The going will be slow, and at that speed it's a long way to the Corridor."

  Fire swallowed his rage at dragons risking their lives. She was right it was the only way. “Well then, in that case you're right: time is indeed short, yes? Let's get to it.”

  They both jumped off their perch and glided down to where Loric stood anxiously by the prone silver form of his friend, Callie.

  He looked up as they landed. “Not sure if she's asleep or unconscious, but I'm worried about waking her.”

  As if on cue, Callie opened her eyes with a groan. She smiled when she saw who was there.

  “Hello, Loric,” she said. Then immediately her smile faded, as if maintaining it required too much energy. Her eyelids gently lowered again. “G-GoodGoodbye, Loric,” she sighed. “No!" Loric yelled in alarm. "No! Callie! Don't give up now!” Was it his imagination, or were her scales losing some of their colour and shine? That meant only one thing in a dragon. “I've come back to help you,” he implored. “I'm gonna get you healed.”

  Callie half opened her eyes, weakly. “Healed?” “Yes, it's all sorted, you'll be fine. Just hang on a bit longer.” Loric forced his rising panic back down and concentrated on his breathing, searching for the calm centre inside him as Aqua had taught him. He found it curious that this was the exact opposite process to what he had learned the last time he was here. The world around him faded away; all that existed now were his patient and himself. He knew healing her by himself was beyond his skill, but he could at least give her some of his strength, to try to keep her from Death's Door for a while longer. When the transfer was sufficient, he allowed the world to return. Callie looked a little better, her scales shining a little brighter, her breathing a little deeper and steadier, but still he knew it lay mostly with her. If she chose to give up on this life, there was nothing anyone could do about it.

  Loric briefly explained that Fire and Air were going to levitate her carefully outside the barrier, where an army of Knights were waiting to take her to the Elder Dragon of Water who would heal her.

  “Knights?” Callie wondered. “Hannah?” Loric shook his head, “No, these are Knights of Balance.” “Don't be ridiculous, child,” Callie admonished in a very `Revered Daughter Calandra` tone. “Everyone knows they're just a myth...” she broke off. “Ah...I see...yes, of course,” she sighed. “You're not really Loric, are you?”

  “What? What are you talking about?” “It's OK,” Callie said, in a resigned voice. “I know you're just a hallucination - you're not the first. Still, as hallucinations go, you've been quite a nice one.” With that, she closed her eyes and wearily settled down to sleep. Perhaps she wouldn't bother waking up again. She hadn't decided yet.

  “Poor thing,” Air sympathised. “She's delirious.”

  “Hmmm,” Fire agreed. “I think we'd better waste no more...time, then, yes?” Air nodded her readiness and Loric took to the sky to give them plenty of space as together Fire and Air combined their magic to slowly, carefully, lift Callie off the ground for the first time since the accident that crippled her.

  They made sure she was stable before launching themselves into the air. Fire had agreed to accompany them as far as the edge of the barrier. From there, he would be able to see out sufficiently well to help guide her onto the Knights' bier. He had jus
t about enough spare magical energy for that, but when Callie was safely landed on the bier, his participation would end.

  * * * * *

  Several uneventful minutes had passed before a rather nasty thought materialised in Phaer's head - he could just make it out through the haze of pain he was trying hard to conceal. “Sir Marcus, sir,” he began. OK, that was two `sirs` - excessive but thorough.“Can you tell me, why are the Dragon Cavalry only flying around the area between the barrier and the Corridor?” He asked, steadfastly resisting the urge to scratch his flaking skin.

  “Because Loric and Air will emerge from this side of the barrier and head for the Corridor," Marcus explained. "The other side has no strategic importance.”

  “But I told you before - this creature doesn't think in terms of strategy. A predator attacks from the weakest side, and that is most definitely the far side of the barrier.”

  Marcus immediately ordered a unit of Dragon Cavalry to take position on the far side of the barrier, but it was too late. The dragon predator shimmered silently into vision and immediately tore into the Dragon Scouts, crushing one against the barrier and springing up to rip out the throat of another. The other three used this time to surround the monster. Whichever one it tried to attack would have time enough to get out of the way and the other two could attack its flanks, and of course the main force of Dragon Cavalry were moments away.

  But the best laid plans can be ruined by the random element and as soon as Phaer's half-elven eyes saw it, he knew it spelt disaster. Unknown to anyone - presumably even the dragon predator - a rogue ruby dragon had made his home inside a dormant volcanic mountain not far from the magical barrier. He had been awakened from a long slumber by the disturbance outside and seen fellow jewelled dragons in distress. Thinking to help, he teleported himself high in the air above the dragon predator. There, he launched himself into a combat nosedive and took a deep breath. The sapphire dragons saw the danger and tried to warn the well-meaning intruder, but the ruby didn't understand.

  There is no danger to them, he thought. My magic will specifically target this strange creature that has the audacity to attack dragons. He could see how this big lizard might pose a problem for sapphires, but there was no creature in the world that could worry a ruby. With all his might, he blew an enormous jet of flame, narrowing the field of attack to just the monster.

  Phaer could hardly bear to watch as the fire faltered and hesitated in the air before even warming the dragon predator's scales. Then, suddenly, it burst outwards in all directions reversing the targeting magic to try and engulf everything within range except the dragon predator. Sapphires were superb flyers, but even with Haste spells, the three scouts could not outrun the inferno, which also reflected upward to melt the ruby dragon's entire body. The fire continued outward, ricocheting off the magical barrier and disintegrating into a million smaller random fireballs that spread panic through the approaching ranks of Dragon Cavalry. They executed mass teleportations - something sapphires did only as a last resort - but in their terror, they lost track of where all their fellows were, all formation was lost and collisions and near-misses spread through their ranks. Only the complex harness system used by the dragonriders prevented many fatal falls. As it was, there were a number of crushing impact injuries and many a scorched dragon hide from the thankfully weakened fireballs.

  Orders were shouted, and slowly order was beginning to be restored, but there, inside the magical barrier, Phaer could just make out the blurry image of what could only be Loric with Air, Fire and the defenceless, immobile Callie. They were some distance inside yet, and moving slowly, but the half-elf knew he had no time to lose.

  “It's up to me, sir,” he said to Marcus Braithwaite. “I've got to stop that thing!”

  “How?” demanded the Supreme Knight Commander. “Stand in front of it and shout `Stop!`?”

  “That's pretty much the plan, yeah.” Spurring his horse, he set off at a gallop, urging the stallion on to faster and faster speeds. His elven side hated pushing the noble beast so hard, but his human side understood that the need outweighed that concern. The lives of Callie and Loric were of greater value, so he pushed on even faster, regardless. He yelled at the Dragon Cavalry Commander to keep his forces back. If they all attacked now, the predator would vanish long before they reached it and that could lead to even more casualties when it reappeared somewhere else. As he'd told Marcus, Phaer knew it was up to him, now.

  The regular Cavalry Knights were standing ready, their horses harnessed up to the empty bier. Phaer just hoped they could get Callie safely strapped onto it. The predator stood watching the approaching prey on the other side of the barrier. It couldn't get at them at the moment, but soon. While it waited, it began to snack on the body of one of the fallen Sapphire Dragon Scouts, and it was a while before it became aware of Phaer's approach. It had no interest at all in these tiny horse things, but the elf-thing on this one was drawing a lot of attention to itself.

  Indeed, Phaer was standing on the back of the galloping horse like a circus act, waving and shouting, desperate to attract the creature's attention. He got it. It turned around fully to face this strange elf that was approaching it at high speed. Loric and Air, who could both now see through the barrier, held their breath. Could they sneak Callie out of the barrier while it was distracted? They would find out soon enough.

  Phaer performed a double somersault dismount, landing gracefully, pausing only long enough to give the horse a hard smack on its rump to send it bolting away. If things went well, he reasoned, he wouldn't be in enough of a hurry to need a horse. If things went wrong, he stood a better chance relying on his own elven agility, rather than wasting time remounting the horse.

  Mercifully, the pain and nausea had retreated for the time being. Even though that let the voices through, he didn't mind that so much. That was a scary thought! He projected calm and confidence, using the same techniques he had honed on communicating with the basilisk. Now, as then, he found it easier to vocalise his thoughts, even though the creature could not understand his words.

  “Stop! Listen to me! Recognise me! I am your master! I'm a dark elf and you are my creation. Obey my will. Obey!” The dragon killer sniffed him, in response to the strange concepts and images being projected into its mind. It had never had any contact with dark elves, but it instinctively knew their scent. It couldn't possibly forget, for it had been imprinted into the very core of its being since it was created. It possessed a race memory of the experiences of others of its kind from ages past, and it was conditioned to recognise and obey the will of its dark elf masters; it couldn't resist. This individual definitely had a dark elf smell about it, but it was slightly different, too. Slightly wrong. The creature was confused, unsure whether it was supposed to obey or ignore it and follow its own instincts. At the very least, it was enough to give it pause.

  Emboldened by success, Phaer pressed, carefully. “You have sufficient dragon meat here, and you must not gorge yourself further.”

  The creature reacted as if this was a concept its kind had received before and it was inclined to accept it.

  Transmitting images of the Dragon Cavalry, Phaer insisted, “There are too many dragons out there for you to take on. Attacking them would endanger yourself.”

  Again, the predator seemed to accept that argument.

  Slowly but surely, Loric and Air emerged from the barrier with the floating Callie. As per the agreement, Fire remained on the other side, continuing to guide the levitation from there. The dragon predator sensed the change in the magical barrier behind it and grew restless. Phaer continued to project calm and control, but it was becoming a struggle, like holding onto the leash of a large dog straining to chase the neighbour's cat.

  “Those dragons are special,” Phaer told it. “They are not prey. They are...servants of the dark elves my servants. They obey me. You obey me.” This was new. No dragon predator had never received a command like that before. It gave Phaer another deep, long
sniff. There really was something very strange about this dark elf. It didn't smell right, it didn't act right.

  Callie had been lowered onto the bier by now and the horses were beginning to take the strain. Fire let go with his levitation spell, while Air reduced the power of hers to a sustainable level that would merely lighten the load for the warhorses.

  As they began to move, the predator grew increasingly agitated. Phaer put all of his mental energy into holding it back, strangely thankful for the recent agonies of his condition. Without them, he was sure he would never have been able to endure the pain he was suffering now. Still, he couldn't hold on much longer.

  At last, he let out a horrific scream and blacked out, collapsing to the ground. The monster bellowed in response to its freedom and turned on the bier party. Loric didn't wait around, but immediately went on the offensive. Catching the creature off guard, the obsidian burst forward, ploughing straight into the predator, knocking it off its feet and onto its side. Large as Loric was, he was dwarfed by his foe.

  The Black Dragon of Avidon let the Fire Rage burn with fierce intensity, fuelled by his need to protect Callie. It was ironic that Callie had been injured after refusing to allow Loric to fight the creature to give her time to escape. Callie's sacrifice had saved his life, he admitted to himself now as he fought with everything he had. Before his Penta Drauka successes, he would never have stood a chance. As it was, he could hold it at bay for a short time, thanks to a combination of his Fire Rage and Air Flight - his vastly improved flying skills, which had additional applications of balance and poise in battle. He imagined he would require some Water of Healing before this was over, too! Loric grappled with the creature, keeping it pinned against the barrier, but staying away from its powerful jaws.

  Sir Marcus raced to the scene, pushing his horse almost as hard as Phaer had his. Without leaving the saddle, he managed to sweep the unconscious halfelf up to lay across his steed’s back. Job done, the Knight leader galloped back to rejoin Sir Stefan in his more central position on the battlefield.