The wizard finished washing and dried his hands on a towel, setting it nearby. He had discovered something far more valuable than what the foolish High-Mage sought, though their ultimate prize, the Alore Staff, was ever beckoning to them. To think that they would keep this information from him, the most accomplished wizard in all of Kesh. How dare they! He would see to it that there was a regime change and soon.
Ke-Tor walked over to the window and peered out at the Onyx Tower, seeing the faint glow of magical lights twinkling from within. Even now, the High-Mage huddled inside, wondering if his assistant had been successful in the assassination attempt. Ke-Tor laughed out loud. He had his own connections, and he placed the pieces on the board in motion, moving his Balarian spies and his wizard eyes into action.
Soon, Keshtor would erupt in violence, and there could only be one High-Mage. Luckily for him, Am-Ohkre had passed, the fool engaging the last of the Arnen, killing both. Somehow, in a fate worse than death, the stupid druid had managed to encase his soul in a rock body. It would only last until the passing of Dor Akun, and once Ke-Tor had the Alore Staff, there would be no Arnen and no mage who could stop him. The foolish wood priest would crumble to stone as his soul left its rock body, never to return or rise again.
The druid’s days were numbered.
The wagons rolled onward with the wizard Alister riding directly behind Dareen. His face seemed pleasant as if he were contemplating happy thoughts, though Dareen knew differently. She was locked in a typical lock cart, alone and with a small amount of stale hay with her, nothing else.
She sat in silence, staring at the Kesh magic-user with large blank eyes. Her body was covered in dry blood and her skin itched, but she resisted the temptation to do so. Her left arm was bandaged after it was broken and reset by the Kesh doctor, a faint reminder of Kesh courtesy.
The death chamber was nothing more than an old theater with a second-floor balcony where the Kesh jeered and cheered the fight below. Barred gates covered several entryways into the chamber, and Grimer was brought in, still wiping at his eyes that had been blinded by a fiery brand. Both the Kesh guard and Dareen were given rusty knives and nothing else.
The battle had lasted for more than an hour as Grimer tried to find her and pin her down, using his larger mass against her. They had sliced each other more than once, and Dareen did not know who would win. After tiring, the guard had made a mistake and tripped over a stone that stuck out ever so slightly. Dareen had maneuvered the man into this situation, and with the memory of Inga on her mind, she made a disabling blow, striking the man across his throat and forcing him to raise his free hand to stanch the bleeding.
With huge effort, she hit him, kicking him to the ground and landing on his back. Blow after blow, she dealt him, blood flinging through the air, staining the stone chamber and covering her from head to toe in it. Long after he stopped moving, she hacked and cut and stabbed into his body, a rage that she had to release. Even the cruel Kesh grew silent and watched in morbid fascination as the Ulathan wench meted justice on their chief dungeon guard.
When she had finished, the room was deathly silent, and she had thrown the blade at the ground beneath the wizard’s feet from where he watched on the balcony. She sat down, staring off into space, and looked at no one. No guard touched her, and no guard spoke to her. She sat there for a long time as the chamber emptied and the light of dawn filled the room from the window slits high above. Using animal collars that they looped on sticks around her neck, they guided her to the wagon and gave her a piece of bread and cheese. She ate it in silence and sat in the lock cage for two days.
For two more days, they traveled on the road to Keshtor, the Kesh capital. The group was eerily silent, and not much was spoken or said by the Kesh except for orders to effect the caravan’s passage. Dareen could not stop thinking of her daughter and if she was alive or dead right now. When she could free her mind from Ann, she was haunted by the visage of Inga as she lay ashen and pale in the Kesh slave pit. She would remember that forever.
Finally, on the third day, a rider arrived and spoke to the wizard. The rest of the day, he scowled and frowned at her. She didn’t know what the news was, but if it upset the Kesh wizard, it was good to her. She relaxed and laid on the back of the wagon in her own filth. The Kesh fed her in the locked cart and did not allow her any freedom for any purpose.
Far in the sky, something appeared, and Dareen watched the dot grow brighter and brighter as it drew near before finally leveling out high above. Argyll had returned, and he had given her hopeful news days before, news about at least one of her sons, and as a mother, she decided it meant that they were both alive.
She sat up and looked at the Kesh wizard Alister, who gave her another scowl and narrowed his eyes at her. If the Kesh feared her, a simple mother of three from Ulatha, then what would they do when her sons returned for her? Dareen smiled at Alister, making him nervous, and Dareen addressed the pompous wizard for the first time in several days.
“Soon, Kesh. Very soon, my sons will arrive.”
Elister was waiting for them much as he had left them, and in fact, they all wondered if he had moved at all. The four companions returned the same way they had left, via the Terrel crossing, as it was now called, and thence to the old homestead. Not long thereafter, they were reunited with Targon, Marissa, and Dorsun. The influx of refugees was a welcome but taxing sight, and they had to improvise as the old cabin was no longer sufficient to house them, and most of the new arrivals were hungry.
Everyone was well-fed, and introductions were made. Plans began to develop for a new cabin, perhaps two more. Elister had ordered the chest taken to a rock nearby and laid on top. He spent a great deal of time standing over it, and no one understood his actions well, except perhaps Khan, who noted that the chest could contain harmful spells if not dealt with properly. The news about Core was not taken lightly, and he was not forgotten.
Finally, the old druid had finished, telling Cedric that he had the honor to open the chest. Before he could do so, as darkness had fallen, a large bonfire was set, as was now customary. A new star with a tail twinkled brightly in the night sky near the far northern horizon.
“What in Agon is that?” Agatha asked, warding herself and huddling with Olga.
“That,” Elister said, “is the Herald of Death.”
“The messenger of Dor Akun,” Khan added, having an understanding that none of the Ulathans possessed.
“So, what does that mean for us?” several asked, and Elister turned to face them.
“It means that soon, death, darkness, and calamity will come upon us,” the dead druid said.
Khan added, “It also would mean the emergence of the Draconus, if the ancient tales are to be believed.”
“What in tarnation does that mean?” Agatha said, speaking for most of them.
“It means dragons,” Elister said.
There was a huge collective gasp, and Horace finished their thoughts for them. “Well, bloody hell.”
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Salvador Mercer loves to read. Having read the works from many authors, the desire to write took over the once sane man, and now he finds himself immersed in telling tall tales and intricate fables from this world, and across the stars to many others.
Salvador Mercer is fluent in English, Russian and Spanish, having served in the US Army, 750th Military Intelligence Brigade as a Russian Voice Intercept Operator, works in the field of Public Transit, loves languages, history, reading, boating, traveling, and science. He lives in Ohio with his three boys, a baby (elf), toddler (hobbit), teenager (orc), and wife, Masha.
Appendix A
The “Science” of Claire Agon
Claire Agon is the second planet orbiting Tau Ceti, located just less than twelve light years from our own planet Earth. It circles its star in the habitable zone, just over two-thirds of one AU, or astronomical unit, which is the distance of Earth from the sun. This places it in orbit about the same distance around Tau Ceti as Venus is to Sol. It has an atmosphere similar to Earth’s, but it is different in composition, because the inhabitants of Claire Agon are silicon-based life forms, not carbon-based as on our planet.
Claire Agon has two companion moons about half the size of Earth’s moon, but circling the planet much closer, four times closer, in fact. The two moons are tidally locked to Claire Agon, each showing the same face to the planet. The two moons in the common tongue are called Tira and Sara, in that order. Tira rises first, followed a few hours later by Sara. Both moons are named for Claire Agon’s daughters in Agonian mythos. Lunar eclipses are not uncommon due to the close orbits of the two moons to the planet, and a full lunar cycle occurs approximately every nine days. Both moons are much like small Agonian worlds, and their blue, green, and white cloud-tipped atmospheres can clearly be seen from the surface of Agon.
Claire Agon, or simply Agon in the common tongue, isn’t the only planet circling Tau Ceti. Recently on Earth, astronomers have detected up to five planets circling the class G star, which is similar in type to our own Sol, but it masses only four-fifths that of our own sun. The astronomers are almost correct insomuch as the system actually has six planets. One planet, however, they could not have imagined; it circles Tau Ceti in an elliptical and eccentric orbit, tilted at thirty degrees above the solar plane. That planet is the size of our own Neptune, but instead of being a gaseous planet, it is a rocky planet, with a huge mass relative to Earth and an atmosphere and magnetosphere in a class unto itself. Agonians call this planet “Dor Akun,” or “Death World,” though the term “Father of Death” is also used, depending on the culture.
Dor Akun orbits Tau Ceti once every two hundred years, and when it approaches perihelion, or its closest approach to the star, it actually comes within the orbit of Claire Agon. In addition to this, Claire Agon is also pulled by the gravitational force of Dor Akun, to the point that it, too, reaches perihelion and does so at the same time as its bigger mate, Dor Akun. During this time Dor Akun is a mere million miles from Claire Agon, and it reaches perihelion exactly on the solar plane where Agon orbits Tau Ceti, thus eclipsing Agon as it transits from perihelion and begins its slow, arduous journey up and back to its aphelion, to begin the cycle all over again.
The eclipse lasts an entire Agonian month, and its tidal forces pull mercilessly on the smaller Agon, flexing its crust and creating huge tides and displacements of waters both great and small. Agon is cast into a cold, dark, month-long isolation, suffering immense damage to life there.
Fortunately for those who live on Agon, the event occurs only once every two hundred orbits of Agon and once every orbit of Dor Akun. Where the two planets actually cross orbits, the larger planet, Dor Akun, is inclined by several million miles, and so the paths of the two planets never cross.
Some Earth-based scientists, if they could witness the odd but regular orbits of Agon and Akun, might conclude that the event will eventually decay the Agonian orbit to the point where it either degrades into Tau Ceti, in a spectacular but deadly spectacle of death, or, more likely, on one pass, it will be captured by Dor Akun and her orbit will take her into the deeper regions of Tau Ceti space, where it is cold and dark and eventually even silicon-based life would freeze to death.
This, however, isn’t the only thing that occurs during the transit event. On Earth, we are protected from radioactive particles by its magnetosphere. In Agon the sphere is weaker and charged particles rain down from Tau Ceti yearly, but during the transit event the great magnetosphere of Dor Akun acts much like a wing does on a modern-day airplane as it slices through the air; it funnels a steady stream of highly charged particles from the local star around itself and onto the surface of Claire Agon every two centuries. The phenomenon causes mutations in the silicon-based life forms of Claire Agon, and so evolution there takes place at a much more rapid pace than it does on Earth.
Such are the science of Claire Agon and its dance of death and change with its bigger mate, Dor Akun, all around a nondescript class G spectral star located not very far from our own sun. Thus magic is created and dragons are born.
Appendix B
Dead Druid Glossary
A
Agatha, Elderly woman, Ulathan refugee, lead domestic cook of King Korwell
Agon, Short common name for Claire-Agon
Alar Thorton, Father of Marissa, deceased
Alister, Apprentice wizard in Ulsthor
Am-Ohkre, Kesh Arch Mage, led attack on Realm of Ulatha, deceased
Am-Shee, Kesh Arch Mage, led attack on Realm of Rockton
Am-Sultain, High Mage of Kesh
Am-Sunsi, Arch Mage of Kesh, deceased
Amy, Daughter of Yolanda, Ulathan refugee, 3 years old
Ann Terrel, Targon’s sister, 8 years old
Arella, Flower with leaves that have healing properties
Argyll, Falcon, friend of Elister
Arnen, Ancient Order of Druids
Azor, Lich (See The Black Dragon)
B
Balaria, Island realm, known for its thieves and assassins
Baldric Terrel, Targon’s father, deceased
Bandit War, Kesh raids into Ulatha seven years earlier
Beamer, Kesh scout
Belts, Brigand
Blackthorn Forest, Common name for the Earlstyne Forest
Bony Brook, Small brook near the Terrel homestead
Border Mountains, Common name for the Felsic Mountain range separating Kesh from Ulatha
Bran Moross, Captain of the King's Guard, married to Salina Moross
Bricks, Kesh guard, suitor to Vika
C
Cases, Kesh brigand leader
Cedric Moross, Son of Salina, 18 years old
Celeste, Elderly Ulathan woman, Ulathan refugee
Charles, Young Ulathan soldier
Charles McFadden, Rockton boy 10 years old
Chester MdFadden, Rockton boy 12 years old
Claire-Agon, The planet/world
Clairton, A small forest bird, favorite of Dareen Terrel
Company Bloody Hand, Kesh brigand group
Company Iron Chain, Kesh brigand group
Company Iron Hand, Kesh brigand group
Company Red Throat, Kesh brigand group
Core, Nickname for Corrack, the brown bear
Corrack, Brown bear, friend of Elister
Cowers, Former leader of the Ulathan southern forces, former commander of Malik Terrel
> Craylyn, Balarian assassin
Cree, Ulathan town south of Korwell
Critir, Magic Orb used for communication and divination
Cruxes, Kesh commander of the Ulsthor garrison
Cutter, Kesh brigand
D
Dareen Terrel, Targon’s mother
Dax, Kesh commander of the Ulsthor slave pit
Diamedes, Ancient Ulathan historian, deceased
Dor Akun, Sixth and largest planet in 200 year orbit around Tau Ceti
Dorsun, Former Kesh brigand chieftain, bodyguard of Khan
E
Earlstyne Forest, Ancient name for the Blackthorn Forest
Elister, Druid of the Arnen
Emelda, Elderly woman, Ulathan refugee, Horace’s wife
Estelle, Ulathan woman, Kesh slave, mother to Matthew
F
Felsic Mountains, Ancient name for the Border Mountains
Flames, Kesh guard
Frederick, Ulathan soldier
G
Gregus River, Ancient name for the Rapid River
Grimer, Chief Kesh dungeon guard
Grinder, Stone troll, in the service of Kesh
Gwen, Ulathan woman, Kesh slave, former school teacher
Gwenny, Rockton woman, Kesh kitchen slave
Gund, Kesh brigand lieutenant
Dead Druid: Claire-Agon Ranger Book 2 (Ranger Series) Page 41