by Mark Tyson
“I can’t be sure, but from the looks of the mountains, we are nearing Tyr Raganough. We still have quite a ways to go,” Morgoran said. “None of the old portals still function in Symboria east of the Vale. If we need to, we can travel to my tower in the Vale instead of flying directly to Symbor. I have a Migarath Portal there, and we can use it to bridge the rest of the distance since I found the portal in Symbor will connect.”
“I’m sure we would all be fine with a stopover at the Vale of Morgoran, but first we might need to survive.” Gondrial pointed aft. “I think two more dragons just joined the chase.”
Morgoran grabbed ahold of the wooden railing. “What! How? No dragon can fly that fast.” His fingers were stiff from the bitter cold. He let go of the railing and rubbed them together. “Something unnatural is spurring them along.”
Several fireballs and a crackling ball of lightning closed in on the ship. Lady Shey and Enowene countered with essence and managed to dissipate two of the balls of fire. Sanmir used lightning against the closest drakes, and they dipped out of formation but soon recovered. Morgoran made sure the ball of lightning didn’t hit the ship, but two of the errant fireballs met their marks. The ship jilted forward, and shards of ice that had been forming on the outer hull came loose and sailed like daggers back to the drakes, who rolled left and right to avoid them.
“That’s it,” Morgoran yelled, “clear the ice!”
The ship jolted and then began to descend. Morgoran almost fell overboard. Something was forcing them out of the sky and negating their magic.
Lady Shey went to Morgoran’s aid. “We need a plan.”
Morgoran strengthened his resolve and regained his footing. “We cannot fend off the attack and keep the ship from crashing to the ground. Someone over there is trying to countermand the enchantment. I need two of us working to keep us from crashing to the ground and the rest counterattacking the pursuers.”
“Enowene and I can keep the ship’s enchantment,” Lady Shey volunteered.
“Good, Shey, you know the way to the Vale; get us there!” He stumbled over to Gondrial, Ianthill, and Sanmir. “Sending small amounts of magic at four dragons is getting us nowhere. We need something big. I think that ice breaking loose has given me an idea. Sanmir, if you can draw a bunch of ice from the air and give them some sharp edges, the rest of us can shoot them so fast at the dragons, they wouldn’t be able to avoid them all! Make as many as you can, as big as you can, Sanmir.”
Sanmir used his abilities. As if they were merely hidden, hundreds of ice spears the size of tree trunks appeared around the aft of the ship. The wielders released them in a deadly barrage. The ice hit its targets, and the dragons scattered, but it merely slowed them down. Their rugged scales were still too hard for the ice to penetrate, even at the great speeds. The ship dipped again, and Morgoran whirled around to check on Shey and Enowene. They were both struggling to keep the ship enchanted. The magic would negate and they would re-enchant, but the magic was negating almost faster than they could re-enchant. Morgoran dared not talk to them for fear of breaking their concentration. He knew they were losing the battle; he just hoped they could make it to the Vale. “Those dragons have help.”
Gondrial snickered. “Aye, they all have riders, probably all wielders.” Morgoran’s expression reminded Gondrial that he was unable to see as far. “Sorry, Morgoran, I forget sometimes that my half-elven eyes can see farther than yours.”
“It’s quite all right, although a quick word to let me know important information would be nice, if you could remember my sight limitations, that is.”
“Aye, I will remember.”
“Are you able to see a face? Is it Dorenn?”
“I don’t know. I can’t quite see that far.”
The ship finally cleared the Jagged Mountains and flew over grassland. Morgoran noted the warmer air. “We just cleared the last of the mountains; we aren’t even to Shadehollow yet. We will not make it to the Vale. Sanmir, when you get the chance, go below and tell the others to prepare for a possible ground assault.”
Tatrice let out a slight yelp as the ship bucked and dropped again. Each time it lurched felt like it was going to free fall and crash into the ground. Trendan still could not get used to the idea of Tatrice being married to Bren. He knew that they planned to get the marriage annulled, but they sure were cozy now, with Bren holding her and comforting her after every waver and groan of the ship. He tried to keep his eyes away from Fayne, who had managed to get Vesperin—shy, ridged, disciplined Vesperin—to hold her and keep her safe. Trendan knew that she could keep him safe just as easily; it was just a ploy. Kimala sat alone, beside Fayne, with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and it wasn’t too long before he realized that she was staring at him. After a moment, she moved to sit next to him.
“I forgive you.”
“What?” Trendan was taken by surprise.
“I forgive you for trying to poison me. I know you were only trying to protect your friends. You thought I was evil and that I would be an instrument of destruction for your cause. I get it; I really do.”
“It was nothing personal.”
“I have seen you looking over at them, you know.” She indicated both couples across the hold. “It’s an interesting duality. Tatrice and Bren are fierce warriors and can hold their own on a battlefield, but she is frightened to be up here with seemingly nothing holding us up, nothing keeping us from plunging to our deaths. It will be seasons before she learns enough of the dragon magic from Shadesilver to understand it. The two of them only stay down here because Shadesilver commanded them to. And then there is Fayne and Vesperin. I don’t think she’s said anything to him about marriage or love; she has just made sure she is there to capitalize on any opportunity to get close to him. He resisted at first, but he is slowly getting the hint, especially after she joined him in his daily prayers. Both of them are healers and deadly warriors. Both of them pray and have faith that Loracia’s will keeps them safe or orders their deaths. Either way, they are prepared to accept it.”
“Everyone is the good guy with the belief that what they are doing is just and important, Kimala. No one starts out believing they are evil and misguided. At least, not at first.”
“Is that how you think Dorenn is feeling right now, like he is justified?”
“Of course I do. He very well may be, did you ever think of that? Why are we trying to keep him from getting to the Tome of Enlightenment? Maybe he has better reason than we know.”
“Is that what you believe?”
“I believe it’s possible.”
Sanmir entered the hold as the ship swayed and dipped again. “Morgoran wanted me to convey that we may need to leave the ship. Make preparations to take the fight to ground. We may need to make a stand.”
“What is happening to the ship?” Tatrice asked.
“The dragons are still pursuing us. Lady Shey and Lady Enowene are constantly enchanting the hull to keep us in the air. We are getting closer and closer to the ground now.”
Bren stood. “I will put on my armor. Where are we?”
“Over the grasslands, near Shadehollow.” Sanmir went back above deck.
Bren and Tatrice both found their armor and hastily donned it.
Kimala whispered into Trendan’s ear so that the others were sure not to hear. “Nothing is ever as it seems. Morgoran trusts me as much as Naneden, and neither should trust me at all. I have my own agenda.” She put her index finger over Trendan’s mouth so he would not interrupt her. “I can’t let the events in my life tarnish the lives of my children any more than I already have.” She moved away from Trendan and secured her daggers. Trendan looked at Fayne and thought about Kimala’s words. Whatever had happened in her life before, she was obviously dedicated to her children now. Then it dawned on him. She said children. Trendan had heard of her talking about Fayne’s sister before. He checked his bow and made sure his quiver was full. His twin short swords on each hip, he was ready.
“Here, let me help you with that.” He watched as Fayne helped Tatrice fasten on her dragon-scaled breastplate. Kimala joined them and worked to fasten a bracer. Trendan saw that when all three women were standing next together, they all had similar features.
The ship jerked and thumped. Trendan felt it slow, and then the bow of the ship tilted up. “I think we are about to . . .”
All six of them tumbled to the front of the hold as the aft of the ship hit the ground. Lady Shey and Enowene had managed to slow the ship enough to make the impact more bearable. Trendan helped Bren up first as he was closest. Bren helped up Tatrice. The ship listed to the left, but the ground had been soft enough to make a furrow in which the ship rested upright.
Upon exiting the ship’s hold, Trendan could see that the dragons were already upon them. He pulled an arrow from his quiver and delivered it to the nearest dragon’s exposed eyeball. It screamed and rounded on him. He bounded out of the path of the oncoming dragon’s breath and rolled over the tilted wooden deck to relative safety.
“Kim—Fayne, get your mother to a safe place,” Morgoran yelled. It would be tough to explain to Naneden if Kimala showed up with battle wounds, Trendan thought.
Trendan nocked an arrow and looked for a clear shot. He knew a shot directly into one of the dragons would do no good; their scales were just too hard, so he waited for a moment when they opened their maws, exposing their soft tissue or when they exposed an eye. That’s when he saw him. Dorenn was casting essence from behind a mound of the dirt thrown up from the ship’s furrow. He carefully aimed the arrow at Dorenn’s head. The mortality of killing his friend welled up from somewhere inside him, and he hesitated. What had Dorenn done that was so bad? Why should he trust Morgoran more than his friend that he had known since Dorenn was a baby? Images of Della and Lourn Adair entered his mind.
He re-aimed his arrow at a green dragon trying to get at Lady Shey. He fired, and the dragon moved away from her, although his arrow did little to nothing to the drake. He moved out of his position to find Morgoran. The wielder was casting cascades of fire at Dorenn’s position. Trendan stopped and carefully lined up his shot. He loosed the arrow and grazed Morgoran’s shoulder, separating the old wielder from his side pack. Morgoran reached down to keep the pack from falling and took a direct hit of essence to his face. He fell to the deck, and Trendan sprinted for the pack as it fell behind Morgoran on the deck. Kimala was near enough that she also went for the pack. Trendan met her there at about the same time. He yanked the strap from her hand. “Nothing is as it seems, right?” He bolted from the deck to Dorenn’s position. He couldn’t see her, but he imagined that Kimala had an irrepressible grin on her face.
Trendan jumped over the mound of dirt to land beside Dorenn.
“Trendan, I almost incinerated you!”
“I almost shot you in the head. Looking for this?” He reached in the pack and produced the golden serpent.
“I don’t understand. I thought all of you were against me getting the tome.”
“I thought about it, and I realized that I trust you more than I trust anyone else. If you truly know what you are doing, then my loyalty belongs to you, my friend.”
Dorenn nodded. “Thank you, my friend. Let’s get out of here; there is no need to keep fighting.” Dorenn waved to the nearest dragon, and it landed at his side. Shadesilver flew in behind it, sending a torrent of fire down on the vicinity. Dorenn countered it with a well-aimed block of essence. “Hurry,” he said, “get on.”
Trendan secured his bow and joined Dorenn on the back of the dragon. It took flight, and they flew in the direction of Symbor.
Morgoran recovered from the daze of being struck in the face to see the green dragon flying away with Trendan and Dorenn. Moments later, the other dragons broke away and followed. The battle was over. He stood there swearing for a few long moments and then turned to the others. “I don’t want to talk about it. Just get this ship, or whatever else fool thing we can fly, and get us to my tower. We still may have a chance to get to the king of Symbor before Dorenn gets that last key.” He stopped next to Kimala. “I think it’s time for you to head back to Naneden. The more you are seen with us, the more you jeopardize your current station.”
Kimala nodded. “Give me a time to say my goodbyes to Fayne.”
“You have until we can get back on track to my tower.”
Kimala searched around the site and found Fayne sitting on a mound of dirt near the furrow of the ship. Enowene and Tatrice were with her. She joined them.
“Enowene, Morgoran feels that I should get back to Naneden before anyone else comes in contact with us and sees me with you.”
“I also think that would be a wise course of action.”
Fayne met Kimala as she turned from Enowene.
“Fayne, I must take my leave. I trust you will be safe here?”
“If you are refering to what happened, I think I can handle it. It isn’t the first time Trendan has done something like this to us.”
“I thought you would be. It’s only that I am your mother and I worry about you. You’ll see someday when you have children of your own.” She looked off at Vesperin binding one of Sanmir’s wounds. “How is the other plan going?”
“The master was right—he is very shy when it comes to women. I have to work slowly and easy so he doesn’t scare. I will have him ready when the time comes.”
“I am sure you will. You are certain the issue with Trendan is not getting in the way?”
“Whatever issue there might have been, it’s gone now and has been since he tried to posion you.”
Kimala accepted the answer, but she didn’t quite believe it, especially when she saw Fayne glance up to the sky where Trendan rode away with Dorenn. While pacing back toward the ship, she saw that Lady Shey and Gondrial had managed to lift it back into the air, the rope ladder dangling loosely over the side. Morgoran was striding up with a cloak drapped over his arm.
“Here, the boy left his cloak. Put it on and draw the hood tight. I thought you might go ahead and travel with us to my tower. I realized I can send you through the portal to Lux Enor, to Naneden.”
“That would be better than leaving me out here in the middle of nowhere.”
Morgoran turned without reaction and headed back for the ship. “I didn’t have to offer or bring her the cloak,” she heard him mumble.
The Brae Daun Duil hunted along the Jagged Mountains and onward through the grasslands. He knew how to track Dorenn by more than a scent—he knew how to track him by the magic he used and by the essence Melias had given him to help keep track of where he might be. He saw the strange shipwreck craddled in the middle of the grasslands, but he avoided it. He could not risk being detected. He traveled forward; he would reach his target soon enough.
Chapter 21: The Dead of Winter
Vesperin was thankful to be at Morgoran’s tower. He disliked traveling up in the air on an enchanted ship. The ship was not a pleasant place to be anyway. It no longer had any sails; it had a broken mast, a cracked and broken keel, and a giant hole in the starboard hull. As soon as they disembarked, Gondrial and Lady Shey left to take the ship back to Seabrey. Gondrial thought it might be funny to put the ship back on the dry docks where they found it. Morgoran protested them leaving, but Gondrial knew that he and Lady Shey would not be welcome guests in the king of Symbor’s palace. In fact, his and Lady Shey’s presence would have exactly the opposite effect of what Morgoran was trying to accomplish. After all, Lady Shey had taken a personal book from his library, and Gondrial had spent some quality time in the queen’s chamber, or so Vesperin was told.
Fayne was still following him around. He tried to get away from her for a few moments after they arrived at Morgoran’s tower, but she always managed to find him. She was nice and very attractive, but Vesperin wondered about her motives, not to mention that she was a bit too smothering for his taste, which was to be left alone most of the time. The Trendan issue was also weighing heavily on
his thoughts. Morgoran seemed to be almost obsessed with stopping Dorenn from getting the keys to the Tome of Enlightenment, but he never gave a good, convincing reason as to why. Vesperin didn’t believe for a moment that Dorenn was capable of turning evil or that he would use the tome for destructive purposes on his own. He watched Tatrice as she was saying her goodbyes to Shadesilver, who was going to fly back to Draegodor to see if she could help with the damage. He wondered if Dorenn knew about Tatrice and Bren. It seemed all so silly. He vowed he would never get caught up in such a triangle.
As they entered the chambers that led down to the Migarath Portal, Vesperin was disappointed that he would not get to see Kerad, Morgoran’s council and cleric of Loracia. He should have returned from Rugania by now but was nowhere to be seen. Morgoran opened the cellar-like door that led to the Migarath Portal, and they all entered the room, descending the narrow stairs one by one.
Morgoran manipulated the circular outer ring and opened the portal. “Lux Enor, Kimala, and don’t forget to change the origin point on the outer ring. I don’t want Naneden seeing that you arrived there by way of the Tower of Morgoran.”
“That is the fifth time you reminded me, Morgoran, I won’t forget.” She turned to Fayne. “Be safe, I will return when I am able.”
“Goodbye, and look after yourself,” Fayne replied.
Kimala bowed her head to Bren and Tatrice, gave an uneasy smile to Morgoran, and then stepped through the portal. Vesperin contemplated what the uneasy smile might mean but quickly dismissed it as nothing. Maybe she didn’t want to leave her daughter and go back to that vile Naneden.
“All right, let me adjust this portal.” Morgoran manipulated the outer ring again, and the portal changed from deep blue to light blue and back to deep blue again, each time making a swooshing noise like someone stirring their arm firmly in a barrel of water.