Choice

by Gary Stringer

  She called upon her Life Store, focussed her will and cast a Shockwave spell at the dwarf, amplifying the charged air around him to the effect that he was inside an electric storm. But Granite was ready and singing before the spell was complete. He was a bard with unique magic of his own. The magic of music. He sang the Spellsong, spinning an anti-magic shield around himself, growing in strength with every note. The Shockwave spell bounced off his shield with a concussive blast that threw Toli to the ground.

  “Och, lassie!” Granite mocked. “Is that the best ye can do? Pathetic!” She tried again, hoping to catch him off balance while he was gloating, but he was too quick and the result was the same. “How many of those have you got left in you?” asked the dwarf. “I can sing this song all day, but your Life Store is emptying fast with spells like that. And guess what? You don't have a Catalyst to restore you. But hey, I'm not an unreasonable dwarf. Here, let me help you.”

  Toli felt him connect his Life Store to hers, as only a Catalyst could do, but he wasn’t Granting Life

  - he was Draining it. Toli could feel her Life Store slipping away like water trickling through her fingers. A trickle became a stream, a stream became a raging river, a gigantic waterfall of Life cascading down a cliff and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She tried to stand, to act, to do...something, but the shock and trauma of this act of extreme magical violence got her only as far as her knees.

  Granite stepped forward to stand directly in front of her. Bending down, he whispered, gloating in her ears. “Y'know, I've never actually done this before,” he confided. “It's really quite exhilarating.” Quick as a flash, Toli pulled out her dagger. She knew it wouldn't penetrate the dwarf's armour, but he wasn't wearing gauntlets, so she could at least scratch his wrist. The wound wasn't deep - Granite snatched his hand away before she could do any serious damage, but at least he'd stopped Draining Life. Toli sprang to her feet and danced out of the way as he swung his battle axe. Granite tried to run after her, but instead, he doubled over in pain and vomited on the ground.

  “Thank you, Phaer!” Toli almost sang in praise.

  “What? What have you done to me?” demanded the bard.

  Toli held up her blade to catch the light. There was a substance on the metal, glistening in the sun. “Before we left the castle,” she explained, “I had a little chat with Phaer and asked if he could teach me how to make a strong herbal poison. Something non-magical that would kill with the smallest scratch. I didn't get too specific as to why I needed it, just said something about my magic not being up to much in a fight and I wanted something I could use to protect Eilidh, if necessary, as a last resort.”

  The dwarf was on his knees by now, retching uncontrollably and coughing up blood. Toli watched coldly, unmoved by pity or remorse. He had tried to harm Eilidh - directly or indirectly didn't matter. That was ample reason as far as Toli was concerned. He would get no mercy from her. Only justice.

  “You're right about that, by the way: he is quite smitten with her and I really hope he and Eili dh can find a way to be together because he makes her happy. You see, that's friendship. I'd be the happiest hobbit in the world if my friend can find love, whether she spends more time with me or not. Her time is her own to use as she chooses. Anyway, as I was saying, Phaer came up with just what I wanted, but I needed you up close so I could scratch you. For a minute there I was worried you might just Drain me from a distance, but you came through in the end. Thanks for that. According to Phaer, it should take about three minutes to kill an ogre...I wonder how long it'll take to kill a dwarf?”

  “Long enough to take you with me!” He growled as he resumed Draining Life, this time really ripping her Life Store apart. It was dangerous for a Catalyst to Drain Life too fast, as it could destabilise his own Life Store and subject him to raw magic exposure, but Granite didn't care about that now - he was dying anyway. In seconds, the magician's entire Life Store was gone and with it her protection against the ravages of raw magic. Toli screamed in pain and dropped to the ground, writhing in agony. Her skin began to blister and boil as highly energised raw magic attacked her flesh. Magic was so concentrated here, next to the Maelstrom, she felt like she'd been dropped into a pool of a hot corrosive acid, being boiled alive. Well, boiled anyway - she wasn't sure how much longer `alive` would apply. But it didn't matter. She could see that Granite was now dead. She had fulfilled her promise to Eilidh - she had done what needed to be done. She had protected her friend.

  Her sight began to blur and the world faded, but she thought she saw someone suddenly standing in front of her - a tall figure in scarlet robes. For a moment she wondered if it might be a vision of the god of Balance, Egali-Te, come to show her the way to the afterlife, but the figure stooped to examine Granite's body, presumably to check if he was still alive. Toli didn't think a god would need to check.

  “Wasteful,” the figure remarked. “He was an excellent agent. Still,” he said, apparently shrugging it off, “no-one's irreplaceable.” He looked over to Toli's prone form. “Now, what have we here? Ah, let's get rid of that dagger of yours, first, shall we?” He invoked his magic and the knife disintegrated. “That's better. Someone could get hurt carrying that around. Raw magic exposure. Nasty.” He snapped his fingers and a figure in white stepped forward into thehaze of Toli's view. A Catalyst. “You. Stabilise her.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  “Keep her alive and conscious. Sufficient Life for protection only. She can be a gesture of my good faith when I meet this Eilidh. Well, either that or a hostage, depending on how cooperative she's feeling.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  Toli felt her pain ease and a minimal Life Store return to block out the raw magic. Speaking directly to Toli now, the one in red said, “You probably can't see too clearly at the moment

  - that will pass - so allow me to introduce myself: I am Drizdar - Master Drizdar to you. Here's the situation: You've inconvenienced my plans and people have died for that, but I've just saved your life so I expect you to be grateful. Don't worry, I don't intend your friend Eilidh any harm. Why would I harm the person who's going to give me the key to ultimate power? The power to end this war and save countless lives. After all, isn't that what we all want?”

  Chapter 26

  Callie was feeling odd. She wasn't sick, she hadn't pulled a muscle, she wasn't tired - in fact, she mostly felt great. But she was also feeling odd. It was like a strange tingling sensation all over her hide, but it wasn’t unpleasant nothing like the itchy, flaky scales she had suffered in the dry heat of the desert. It just felt...odd.

  Most likely, it's just an after-effect of my recent brush with death, she decided, and thought no more

  of it. It was so good to fly again. She had left Brash and taken off in another direction. She’d told him she wanted to maximise their scouting coverage, but if Callie was honest, that was merely a pretext: she just wanted to fly, push herself to her limit and Brash could never keep up with that. She might have allowed herself to be a little rusty, after her long paralysis, but not a bit of it. Her body was responding magnificently. Better than ever, in fact.

  Hang on, she thought, what's that?

  She pushed her focus to the limits of her vision and blinked a couple of times, just to be sure. No, it wasn't something in her eye - there was definitely something there - a tiny black speck on the horizon.

  She increased her flight speed to intercept whatever it might be, and halfway there she realised what it was: another dragon. A dark scaled dragon.

  A black? she wondered. No, she realised, an obsidian - and not just any obsidian dragon, either!

  She strained her muscles to squeeze out a little extra pace to close the gap.

  “Loric!” she called out when they were close enough.

  “Callie!” he called back. After the death of Air, this was the one sight in the world that could lift his spirits.

  A moment later, they were flying side by side, performing aerial manoeuvres around
each other in joy.

  “Callie, am I glad to see you!

  “Me too!”

  “What are you doing way out here?” Loric asked.

  “I might ask you the same question,” she countered. “I'm here with Eilidh.”

  “Eilidh's here?”

  Callie nodded, “And Toli and Phaer and all the others - the whole company back together at last - oh, and Brash is flying around here somewhere. They're investigating the Maelstrom.”

  “The what?” “That great swirling mass of light and colour.” “Like one of those Life Eddies I keep seeing,” Loric realised. “Only so much bigger. Wow, that's impressive, and the Penta Drauka magic is pulling me there so strong now, I almost feel I could stop flying and it would just drag me in without me trying.”

  “Yes, that makes sense,” Callie agreed.

  “It does?” Loric wondered. “Why's that, then?”

  Callie looked puzzled. “I'm not sure,” she admitted. “It just seemed to a second ago. Anyway, what have you been up to? Is Air not with you?”

  Loric's shoulders drooped, but he maintained his flight rhythm unimpeded as he told Callie the whole story.

  “Hmm, I didn’t like that Elder Dragon of Stone at all,” Callie muttered.

  “What?”

  Callie shook her head to get her speech working right and tried again. “I mean, I don't like the sound of him.”

  “Ha! I haven't told you the half of it. I edited out some of the worst bits.”

  “Yes, I know. I've never met a ruder dragon.”

  “What? Callie, why are you acting so weird? I've just poured my heart out about Air's death and all you can do is talk nonsense!”

  “Air? Dead? Don’t be ridiculous, child!”

  “And what's with the Revered Daughter persona?”

  “I don't know,” Callie admitted. “It's like I can't think straight. I try to say one thing but it comes out differently… It's only to be expected, of course. It takes a bit of adjusting, that's all.”

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Loric demanded.

  “I'm telling you I don't know! I-”

  But then Loric spotted something that nearly made him fall from the sky in shock. “Callie, what's happenedto your tail?”

  “My tail?” She tried a few manoeuvres but it wasn't easy trying to see one's own tail whilst flying. “What's wrong with my tail?”

  “It's turning blue - your scales are turning blue! And your wings look!” Now, seeing one's wings in fligh t was simplicity itself. “But those aren't my wings! Are they?” Instead of their usual dazzling silver shine, they were a kind of speckled blue, like jewels...like sapphires. As Loric looked on in astonishment, a multi-coloured wave of light and magic swept across Callie's body. A glare so bright that Loric had to turn away. When the light faded and he looked again, Callie was completely changed. No longer was she a silver dragon, but a perfectly smooth blend of silver, midnight blue and sapphire jewels. He'd seen such a dragon before, of course, and this was similar but different. For as he looked again, he realised that despite all the changes, the dragon before him was still undeniably Callie.

  “Well,” she remarked. “That was quick!”

  * * * * *

  They landed so they could talk more easily.

  “Callie? What's happened?” Loric asked.

  “Oh, do pay attention!” She scolded him, gently. “I told you before about the Penta Drauka magic. When an Elder Dragon dies, the essence finds a new body.”

  “The dragon with the best skills in that area,” Loric said. “I remember. I just – I just didn't expect this.” “It was quite a surprise to Callie, too,” said Callie. “Sorry - I mean, it surprised her– me! Oh bother! Personal pronouns get so muddled early on in the process. But basically, Callie is the best, most natural flyer in the world even though she hasn’t done it all that much lately. Combining our experience, we – I – embody the power of dragon flight more than ever before. Just wait until the next time Aqua tries to race me - I might even beat him at swimming in this body! Not to mention getting back to Marcus-Oh.” Her enthusiasm evaporated as she realised: The dragon that was Sir Marcus Braithwaite's beloved wife was gone forever. A tear welled up in Callie’s eye. “It's going to hit him so hard! He was supposed to die of old age in bed with

  me holding his hand. I could have handled it I could!” She winced. “I mean she could. Oh blast this stupid,

  clumsy language!”

  Loric draped a wing across her back. “It's OK, Callie. I understand. This must be so much for you to take in and sort out right now.” “It's not so bad, actually. Quite exciting, in fact. It's never happened this quickly before. The transformation normally takes place over weeks and months. But there's so much magic here, so much power. I guess the Penta Drauka magic got amplified.”

  “Is that safe?” Loric wondered, concerned. “Oh yes!” Callie gave a reassuring dragon grin, “It's better this way. Usually, the t ransition phase seems to go on forever, and it feels like you're neither one thing nor the other. It can get so that a dragon doesn't know who she is for a while. That’s one of the reasons they tend to drop their former names.” She snorted in humour, remembering. “Last time was particularly hazardous. She was the leader of a small group of feared blue dragons,” she began.

  “I remember you saying she was the one who killed Air,” Loric recalled. “The old Air - the old you

  the old old you. Damn, I see what you mean about getting the language right.”

  “It's not easy, but I know what you mean,” Callie assured him. “Anyway, as I was saying, can you imagine being a vicious blue dragon, you've just killed this multicoloured freak and you start developing silver scales? Suddenly you're the freak and you've got blue dragons chasing you all over the sky! It's like the ultimate in `the punishment fits the crime`!”

  “Are you sure you're OK?” Loric asked once more.

  Callie nodded. “Fighting fit and raring to go! In fact, it's time we were going. You have a quest to complete and I need to catch up with the others.”

  “What can you tell me about the final Elder?” Loric asked.

  “Ah, not a thing, I'm afraid. Strictly not allowed,” Callie answered.

  “Not allowed?”

  “Hmmm. You remember the last one yelling at me for coaching?”

  Loric chose to let the pronoun go. “Well, he did have a point. I knew I could get away with a bit last time, but this is your final test and you have to figure it out entirely on your own. If I told you anything - even a name - you'd be disqualified. Sorry.”

  “Well, we're going in the same direction,” Loric said with a shrug. “We can at least fly together.”

  Callie smiled. “Yes, I'd like that. I can see if you've picked up any bad habits in my absence.”

  “Air’s absence or Callie's?”

  “It's the same thing,” she asserted. “Now if only we could find Brash as well.”

  As if on cue the young bronze buck nosedived out of the clouds and executed a perfect splashdown landing a short distance away. “Anybody looking for me? Hey-Callie, you've changed!” “Nonsense, child,” she disputed, putting on her best Revered Daughter Calandra voice, just for effect. “I'm still the same old Callie...more or less. Race you to the Maelstrom!” With a wink and grin, she took to the sky leaving the other two dragons in her wake, straining to catch up.

  * * * * *

  “Something's wrong,” said Bunny, getting up from her sunbathing position. Ever alert to the world outside, not just the world inside her head, she sensed something: trouble.

  “Oh, really?” Rochelle wondered absently, nose in her books as usual, not paying the slightest bit of attention.

  Jayne didn't even pause in her training routines. As for Hannah, she was vigilant as always, but Bunny didn't think this particular brand of trouble was within the Knight's abilities to detect. “Yes, really,” she insisted. “Look, I know you've all got your doubts about me and maybe I bring it on m
yself at times, but that's just me being me. Sometimes I like to wind people up, but trust me; this isn't one of those times!”

  To reinforce the point, she unhooked her mace from her belt and started to scan the surroundings with every sense she possessed. “It's coming,” she warned, though she knew no-one was listening. It was just Bunny playing one of her jokes. There'd be a punchline any moment - and there was: Z'rcona appeared out of nowhere and backhanded Bunny across the face so fast even Hannah was caught flat-footed. The Knight's sword rang out the song of death but her charge was cut off by a Knight in black armour who blocked her path. She remembered, belatedly, that Z'rcona had had a renegade Dark Knight with her before: Linarceo Leonis.

  Jayne launched herself into battle with a blood-curdling scream, but she was intercepted by a pair of formidable-looking human warriors. Two more appeared and headed for Rochelle who frantically put aside her books and jumped up to defend herself.

  This left no-one to assist Bernice, but she was a sorceress - she could supply her own reinforcements. She created an illusory copy of herself, as she was wont to do, and not just one copy, but three. Z'rcona was surrounded.