Time of Change (Emerilia Book 7)

by Michael Chatfield

  The other Dragons followed. They needed to get inside before Akatol reinforced his palace or had time to react to their entrance. The faster they could close with him, the less time he could plan and react.

  Denur landed with a thud. She moved through the mountain that lay under the ice palace.

  Others opened up different holes with their magical skills, heading directly to the deepest cavern of the mountain.

  Denur quickly reached the bottom of the mountain. She was shocked by what she saw. Akatol was skinny from bleeding so much. Around the room, people, on stakes, were slowly being turned into blood soul gems. He was tracing down an incredibly complex magical circle in the floor. Where the soul gem lay, it turned into blood-red lines, as if they were a natural formation on the floor.

  Denur let out a howl. Flames shot from her mouth and hit Akatol.

  He dropped a wing as a Mana barrier formed over him. He crushed the blood soul gem in his hands.

  Denur’s eyes went wide as it went inside the wounds on his hands. Smoke seemed to appear around him as he rose up, his Mana barrier holding. His eyes glowed with a crazed red instead of its original blue. The red smoke was actually clouds of blood if one was to look close enough. His aura exploded outward as he let loose with his breath.

  Denur had to use everything she had to stop his breath from beating hers.

  Dragons appeared in the cavern, letting loose with their own attacks, trying to weaken Akatol.

  He looked as though he were laughing, as if this fight was nothing to him. Akatol’s breath turned from flames into a vortex.

  Denur turned and ducked as the blast slammed into her Mana barrier and sent her flying.

  The other Dragons continued to press their attacks.

  He’s using blood soul gems directly in his blood. It’s tearing his body apart from the inside as he uses it, but it will give him a massive increase in Mana, enough that he’s stronger than me in terms of power.

  She made to stand up, spitting out blood as Akatol moved. His body was covered in a red and blue smoke as he activated his movement technique.

  He tore into the ranks of Dragons. He tossed them away as if they were ragdolls. They slammed into the walls, howling out. The mountain shook with the Dragon’s hits.

  Akatol raised his hand to tear out a Dragon’s throat as he laughed crazily.

  “Die!” Louna’s voice rang out through the mountain.

  Akatol turned to look at Louna, a look of confusion on his face.

  “No!” Denur roared out.

  Louna raised a Mana barrier and shield. Akatol breathed a water stream that cut through the different layers. The other Dragons who could fight unleashed all their attacks on Akatol.

  Denur rushed forward, a look of panic on her face as she unleashed her own attack.

  Akatol didn’t even look up as Louna’s shield and then Mana barrier failed. She had been tired from taking the shift before and recovering in the Mithsia Mountains. She had rushed back to assist her family. She didn’t have a necklace and no way to recover her lost Mana within Akatol’s total domain.

  Akatol’s hand was wreathed in ice shards tainted with blood. He opened Louna’s throat with a blow.

  Louna coughed; her body convulsed and her eyes went wide as dark blood fell from her wounds. Denur felt as if a part of her soul had been torn away from her.

  “Naughty daughter put Daddy away for a long time,” Akatol tutted. “Sleep now.”

  He dropped Louna, his own third child, to the ground as if a doll he had grown bored of.

  Denur hit him with everything she had and slammed into him.

  He laughed. His tail whipped out and slammed into Denur’s side.

  She braced against it but she was still sent flying again. She felt something crack in her chest as she impacted the wall.

  Akatol jumped forward. Ice spears, water geysers, and ice claws appeared as he targeted his and Denur’s great-great-grandson Kolq. The youngling lasted for just a few moments.

  Denur cried out again. Her body was broken: one of her legs at an odd angle and one of her wings crushed. Still she rose, charging Akatol once again. There had to be an end, a way to stop him!

  Even as she fought onward, tears fell from her eyes, not out of physical pain, but the loss of her family members.

  They had become utterly close and inseparable. They had shared trials together and come through it on the other side. They were expected to live for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. She couldn’t bear watching her babies and grandbabies killed so easily. She would sacrifice anything—even her own life, her happiness, take eternal punishment—just to destroy Akatol and save them.

  Eliona, Hawsan, and Petal fell under Akatol’s attacks as he let out crazed laughter, throwing them aside. His own flesh and blood. He had lost any sense of sanity. He grabbed a forming blood soul gem and the giant it was forming from, gnashing them between his teeth as power flooded him. He was an unstoppable maniac.

  Denur threw herself at him so many times, trying to stop him. She let out a compressed breath, everything that she had left.

  It made his barriers flare up, changing from clear to a pinkish hue. Others joined in. He let out an enraged roar; ice spears raced out in every direction and crashed into shields.

  “Dear wife, stop your meddling. Everything will be fine soon. I will show these creatures that we are the true rulers of Emerilia,” he said in a sickly sweet voice, stalking over to her while attacks slammed into his barriers.

  Dragons tried to charge in, but were hit by a vicious magical attack or thrown aside by a swipe of Akatol’s tail.

  Denur tried to limp away, flaring out her good wing at him to hurt him.

  Ice spears nailed her wings to the ground and he stomped on them, her bones breaking like dry twigs. He systematically broke her other limbs into uselessness and then pinned her neck down with ice spears and a net.

  There was nothing that she could do.

  “I’ll be back soon, sweetness.” Akatol let out a small childish giggle that sent shivers down Denur’s spine.

  He moved so fast that the very air was disturbed.

  Sounds of breaking bones and cries of pain rang out.

  Denur continued to fight. She was in Mana fatigue; her body was broken, but this was her family. She didn’t care about any of that!

  There was a flash of light as a sole Human appeared in the mountain.

  “Oh look, the creator has come to play!” Akatol said. Someone whimpered as they were dropped to the floor, ignored by Akatol.

  “Die.” The voice was cold and ruthless.

  Denur wanted to tell Fire to run away, that she couldn’t defeat Akatol.

  The mountain seemed to explode with Mana.

  “How is this possible!” Akatol yelled. “I can’t die! I’m a god!”

  Denur’s restraints were removed. She turned her head.

  Fire was wreathed in flames, a creature of pure Mana. Her eyes were merciless as fireballs, fire storms, spears, Dragon’s breath, devil’s inferno—all these spells and more were simultaneously being cast at the same time. Akatol’s shielding was impressive, but they tore through them like a needle through paper.

  “None of us are gods.” Fire’s words shook the very air. A sword of flames erupted from her hands and tore through Akatol.

  He fell and the light went out of his eyes.

  “Burn till there is nothing left,” Fire spat.

  White flames tore through Akatol, feeding off of his Mana, Stamina, and Health. It was a forbidden spell that would hold a creature at the threshold of death, not allowing them to pass away, but feel as their body was burned away by unstoppable flames.

  Denur’s body shook in pain as tears rolled down her face. She saw the broken bodies of her family strewn around the room. She had been too confident, too sure of their power.

  There was nothing she could do. She was broken, useless to help them.

  Nothing mattered—everything hurt. She cried,
shuffling along on her broken limbs to the closest of those who had fallen. She rubbed Louna’s head with hers, letting out a keening noise. Even through the tears, she tried to smile. “It’s going to be all right, baby girl. Everything is going to be all right.” She didn’t need her senses to know that Louna’s soul had already left.

  Denur started singing. It was a familiar song to the Dragons. Denur had sung it for them, one and all. It was a song from their childhood, one that sung to the pride of the Dragons, how they would look after one another no matter what. Denur sung her song, a sad smile on her face as tears fell. But her voice—her voice didn’t crack as she sung that song one last time for Louna, as she sent her to sleep, telling of greater days in the future, of adventures she would have.

  Denur felt as if her heart would break, knowing that Louna and the others who lay unmoving in that room would never be able to once again go on their own adventures. Their journey ended here.

  Denur laid her head against Louna’s.

  “It’s okay to sleep. Mommy’s here,” Denur said quietly. Tears silently fell down her face.

  ***

  Fire could only look over her children: wounded, dead, and in the throes of loss. She bit her lip as tears came to her eyes.

  They didn’t know when they would make it into the ice palace as Akatol continued to reinforce the ice palace and sometimes even push back the Dragons.

  When it had finally collapsed, Fire had been in Per’ush in disguise, watching over the mage’s college. She’d had to leave without raising suspicion and raced to her secret chambers to teleport to the ice palace. Once she arrived, she’d teleported inside; however, the battle had only lasted minutes, the Dragons moving at speeds that would leave most people in awe and fear.

  Now her heart twisted in her chest as she raised her hands to call down healing spells on the wounded while she assessed wounds, finding those who were in life-threatening condition.

  “No one else dies today.” Fire’s voice was harsh as tears left streaks on her cheeks. Her eyes turned to orbs of flame as power surged around her, spreading outward to encompass all the injured. The power needed to move Dragons was massive and it would overdraw Fire’s energy. She was past the point of caring about that as she pulled the wounded through a teleportation spell, arriving in Densaou Ring of Fire.

  “Healers!” Fire’s voice passed through the mountain. She looked haggard as she disappeared and then reappeared in the ice palace. Once again, she spread out her senses; her face contorted in pain before she disappeared again with any remaining injured.

  Without pause, she went from Densaou Ring of Fire to the ice palace, her actions automatic until all of the wounded and dead had been pulled from the ice palace.

  Fire arrived back in her apartment, slumping to her knees and hanging her head. She sobbed freely, her heart torn apart as she continued to hear Denur singing to her daughter and grandchildren who had closed their eyes once again.

  Mal, seeing Fire sobbing on the floor, rushed to her. He held her to his chest; she was too weak to even move her arms to hold him. Mal sat there with her crying against his chest. Pitiful howls from the Dragons echoed through the Densaou Ring of Fire.

  In the past, Dragons had turned against the family and Emerilians; killing them to protect the family and Emerilia had been the hardest task that Fire and the Dragons had dealt with.

  Dealing with the loss of so many of their family members was a deep shock that left them struggling to cope with the losses.

  Chapter 21: Continue Down the Set Path

  Event: Of Myths and Legends

  3 Creatures of Power have escaped their imprisonment and have arrived back on Emerilia.

  The Event: Of Myths and Legends has begun!

  Kill the Creatures of Power to gain rewards and experience. If you fail to kill the creatures, then Emerilia could be forever changed.

  Creatures of Power located on Emerilia: 3

  Creatures Killed: 1/3

  Across Emerilia, this screen covered people’s vision.

  Induca received a second message. Her smiling face turned almost gray as she woodenly walked over to a chair and collapsed into it.

  “Induca, baby, what’s wrong?” Suzy asked. The two of them had been about to go out for some lunch when they’d gotten the good news.

  “Why? Why would he do that? How could he be so fucked up?” Tears streamed down Induca’s face. She covered her face with her hands, her body shaking as she cried.

  Suzy got on her knees, hugging Induca from the side.

  “He killed them. He killed his own flesh and blood. Why? Why couldn’t he have just gone and died by himself with his crazy beliefs?” Induca continued to sob incoherently, wrapping her arms around Suzy and holding her tight as she cried.

  Suzy felt tears well up in her own eyes at the clear pain Induca, the woman she loved, was going through. There was nothing she could do but hold her and hope that she could support her through this.

  ***

  Deia and Dave had been off on a date in Unity. She dropped the fork she’d been using, reading the message from her mother.

  “Akatol is dead. However, he killed eight other Dragons before he could be killed. Several more are pretty heavily injured,” Deia said in a private chat with Dave.

  Dave’s face became serious as he looked to Deia. “What should we do?”

  “The family is in mourning. They’re dealing with everything, but it’s a big blow for them. Mother is asking that you take a look at the blood runes that Akatol made inside his ice palace. She’ll be at Quindar and Fornau’s home. She can teleport them to the Densaou and then us to the ice palace. Bob will meet us there,” Deia said.

  “Okay.” Dave paid for the meal and held out a hand for Deia. With a press of his hot bar, he changed out of his formal clothes and into his armor.

  Deia, too, changed into her armor. The two of them took to the air as Dave used his gravity orbs to send them flying out toward the cliff walls around Unity.

  Fornau let them into the home. The excitement and happiness that had been visible just yesterday was gone. Everyone was somber. Even the children seemed quiet as their parents prepared to leave for the funeral.

  With a flash of flame, Fire appeared in the main living room. Deia and Fire hugged. Fire looked as if she had aged years, her face lined with wrinkles and pain. She had only just got back her Dragons, her first children. Now, Akatol, their father, had turned and killed off eight of her family.

  Quindar, Yoalin, and Fornau all hugged Fire and gathered around her with their children. Fire blinked rapidly, looking at those children.

  Deia held her mother’s hand. She could only guess what was going through her mind.

  In a flash, they appeared in Densaou. In the next, they appeared in Opheir.

  “Find out what Akatol did here,” Fire said.

  “We will,” Dave promised.

  “Mother, can I come with you?” Deia asked.

  “Certainly,” Fire said, with tears in her eyes and a trembling smile on her lips. She reached up and moved a piece of hair out of Deia’s face.

  Deia hugged her mother. As she did, the Lady Fire’s resolve broke as tears fell down her cheeks and she sobbed into her daughter’s shoulder.

  ***

  As Fire was regaining her composure, Bob arrived. His lips were pressed together as his eyes seemed to want to say that he would be willing to do anything to take this pain away.

  Once Fire was ready, she and Deia disappeared in flames, leaving Dave and Bob to work.

  Already, the Dragons had taken their dead and wounded, headed back to Densaou. However, before they’d left, they’d created a series of barriers and enchantments so that no one could enter the mountain. The ice palace was melting at a fast rate without Akatol’s Mana to support it. The ground had turned into a marsh as water once again covered the ground.

  “If only I knew about Akatol’s return or I was able to keep the prison shut,” Bob said as he and Da
ve looked over the runes covering the floor.

  “There was nothing that you could do, Bob,” Dave said in a firm voice.

  Bob made to argue, but let out a breath instead. “What do you make of this?” Bob waved at the runes.

  “Killing circuit,” Dave said.

  “Looks like he was using the runes to make a disease of some kind. It was targeted using the blood of the sacrifices. Dragons would have been immune, though a great number of other populations would have been affected. It looks like there is a way to heal the disease. I guess Akatol was going to gift this cure to those who followed him.” Bob shook his head.

  Dave nodded. He specialized in mechanical coding, where Bob had a deep background in biology. After all, he had almost single-handedly created humans and their subspecies on Emerilia.

  “Let’s make a record of it. I can get the AI searching for this in the future so that it isn’t made. Then, let’s destroy it,” Bob said.

  “Agreed,” Dave said with a grim expression. This Magical Circuit was a clear weapon, one that meant to spread death and destruction across Emerilia. It brought him to think about the weapons that he himself was making.

  He focused on his work. Bob disappeared a time or two so that the members of the Pantheon wouldn’t be able to locate him.

  Across Emerilia, people were getting the news about the Dragons. People had been watching the mountain with long-distance spells and eyepieces. They had seen the ice palace break and the Dragons rush in. They’d heard the fighting come to an end and then seen the Dragons headed toward Densaou. This time, however, they passed over southern Opheir, using the wind stream to get back to their homes.

  Because the wounded had been instantly teleported back home with the dead by Fire, the people of Emerilia assumed all who didn’t leave were dead.

  It was a shock that ran through Emerilia’s people and Players.

  After all, Dragons were the strongest existence known under the gods and goddesses themselves. Hearing that nearly twenty of them had not reappeared after attacking the ice palace was enough to scare the hardiest of adventurers.