The wizard pointed his metallic staff at the missile, and it burned to ash in flight. Before another could be launched, Elly dropped his wall and called forth a large ball of air that knocked the Kesh magic-user off his mount and to the ground. So intent was he on the Blackwell archers that he missed the druid Initiate attack.
A large force disturbed the air, and it was centered between mage and druid. With a sonic boom, it blew out from the ether, knocking everyone to the ground. Amsor fell from his large black stallion, and it bolted away. Almost every other Kesh rider was knocked to the ground as well, most of the horses bolting in the process.
The group fell in unison as well, and they all felt the sudden pain in their heads as their skulls pounded.
“What was that?” Gloria cried out from on her back, struggling to sit up on her chain mail.
“I feel like I have a headache,” Diamedes said, picking himself up and reaching for his pack, which had fallen nearby.
Lucina was having a harder time regaining her feet in her heavy and stiff plate armor, requiring assistance from both Helvie and one of Godfrey’s soldiers.
“Time to go.” Greyson stood, shaking his head and looking around. “That way will do.”
Everyone looked, seeing the old druid pointing east toward the Northmen and away from the Kesh.
“You heard the master. Now let’s go,” Edric said, hefting his axe easily and yanking Elly up with his free hand.
The companions found themselves trotting through town, toward the east. The fire of the burning building cackled as the flames engulfed the entire structure and towered over the town by thirty feet. Burning that fiercely, it would die down quickly, but there was no doubt that no one would be coming out of that building alive.
“Get Bryce,” Helvie ordered.
Both Edric and Lucina grabbed the hunter and drug him away from the burning building. He had jumped off of his roof and ran across to aid his brother, but the heat from the fire could be felt even a dozen yards away.
They cleared the town quickly and jogged on until they came to the first rise and looked back. Mercifully, the fire was already dying down and appeared to be limited to the one building. It was a small store used for wood supplies and such, and that explained its intense fire. In the end, they lost only the one hunter, Jayson, and one of Godfrey’s soldiers.
“What happened, Master?” Edric asked as the group paused to take in the scene.
“The blasted mage tried to crack my mind,” Greyson said, holding his forehead with one hand and a tight grip on his staff with the other.
“He attacked your mind?” Elly asked, afraid to learn that this type of power even existed in Agon.
Greyson paused a moment longer and then took three deep breaths, calming himself quickly. “Don’t worry about me, but yes, he attacked my mind. He tried to control it, to learn what I knew, and he almost succeeded. He is the most powerful force I’ve ever encountered . . . except one.”
Everyone knew to what the old druid was referring, and no one wanted to speak of it nor hear the old man say it, but they all had the vision of a dragon on their minds. “Now what?” Helvie asked, feeling responsible for her realm and people.
“We did what we needed to do. Now we run east.” Greyson started to walk, though, and not run, but his direction was true to his word.
“You’re going to say it, aren’t you?” Gloria looked to the old historian.
“Yes, Lady Gloria of Giegenstien,” Diamedes said, giving her a smile and then a wink. “To buy more time.”
“Agon help us,” Helvie said, grabbing one of Lucina’s arms and following the group.
Gloria brought up the rear. “Well, Agon be damned if I don’t find myself running toward the barbarians and most likely finding myself out of breath.”
Everyone was too tired to laugh, and Greyson ignored the blasphemy yet again.
Chapter 17
Sacred Places
The Tridra hit Wulfric head-on, but the Ranger managed to jump out of its charge and cut off the bird’s head with one blow, eliciting a roar from the other two heads. It was already bleeding a sickly black blood that did not look natural. It glowed an ebony-blue hue as it poured onto the ground. Many barbarians had paid with their lives in order to wound it so.
Beth arrested the charge of the beast with a much smaller, more compact wall of dirt and earth. It sprang up right in front of her, and the creature plowed headlong into it, smashing the rich black soil into all directions.
“Wulfric, are you all right?” Beth called out to her protector.
The tall Ranger had somersaulted and rolled twice, but failed to gain his feet quick enough, though that probably saved him as black dirt flew at him from the impact of the Tridra and Beth’s earthen wall.
“I’m fine. Can you kill it?” he asked.
Beth focused, knowing that she couldn’t summon a full elemental like her master could, but she needed something more than mere dirt to stop this magical demon. With great effort, she launched her staff into the ground and called the incantation of summoning. The earth elemental didn’t heed her call completely, but it did raise a dirt hand that grasped the stunned Tridra around its torso, pinning it to the ground.
“How’s that?” Beth beamed, smiling at her work.
The war cries from the Northmen who were approaching became louder, making it harder to hear, not that they could do much over the din of the hissing head or the howling of the wolf-like head. The bird head started to turn to stone again, much as it was when it was a carving. It was obvious that the Ranger’s blade had more potency than that of the barbarians.
“Stand clear. Let me swing a killing blow,” Wulfic said, gaining his feet and coming up to the exposed side of the Tridra. It struck out against the massive earth hand, biting and gouging at the dirt in the process. Dirt scattered in all directions, but the hand would hold for a moment longer.
“Where’s the dragon?” Beth asked, looking up and not seeing anything.
“It flew off west, toward the village.” Wulfric walked over to the creature.
“We need to help Master Greyson,” Beth said, starting to worry now. She took a moment to see the barbarians approaching cautiously, no longer running but weapons out. They would arrive shortly as well.
“First things first,” Wulfric said, swinging the blade to hit the creature where he imagined its heart would be. The blow was more a stab, pointy end going deep into its chest, and he narrowly missed being bitten by the wolf’s head. The beast howled in frustration, but it didn’t sound like pain, and it thrashed wildly, dirt splaying everywhere and blinding them momentarily. Wulfric pulled mightily on his blade, freeing it and in the process the beast as well, for his blow had given it one last measure of strength and it tore free of its earthen bound.
“Watch out,” Wulfric yelled as the Tridra lurched forward.
Beth swung her staff in front of her, hitting the wolf’s head on its snout and driving the massive nose into the ground in front of her. The snake’s head followed up, striking with such speed that it was almost done before it could be seen and registered on their minds.
Wulfric swung again, already having been moved to action, and in righteous anger, he decapitated the reptilian head from its body, bloody black ichor spewing forth all over the place.
Beth’s wound was not life-threatening, as the two large fangs pierced her abdomen and upper leg, the angle of the bite being off by the beast attacking with its head and body at an angle. No, it wasn’t the bite that would be fatal to Beth, it was the poisonous venom that flowed through her body even now.
She took a step backward and struck at the wolf’s head again, hitting it and drawing blood again as the staff glowed, a white light emanating from it. Wulfric moved around quickly to stand between her and the magically animated creature. It snarled and scratched at the ground in front of it and prepared for a final killing attack.
Then, the barbarians arrived.
The Tridra h
ad killed two score of their brothers and wounded another three at least. The wild woman and woodsman hunter were enemies to be sure, but the blood oath of the Dragon Clan demanded retribution. The Tridra would be on the receiving end for its deeds against them.
Beth swooned and fell to the ground. Wulfric picked her frail body up with one massive arm and slung her over his shoulder, using his sword to keep the barbarians and Tridra at bay. Moving stealthily and with intent, he put the Northmen between himself and them. He didn’t need to do so any longer.
The Tridra had made its killing blow, and the woman it was tasked with killing would be dead within minutes. It knew this, and its task now was to return to its master. The Northmen were preventing that. The Northmen were now the intent of its attacks. It paid the woman heed no longer, its magical programming so rigid that it couldn’t think for itself and finish the job. It began to kill again, and the Northmen returned the favor.
Wulfric ran into the Greenfeld with Beth over his shoulder and disappeared, never to see the beast again.
The battle raged below, and Tyranna smiled inwardly at herself, enjoying the mayhem she had helped wrought. Her barbarian clan was approaching, and the pair of defenders that had brought the magical beast had encountered only the lead element of the horde. She could see a couple of leagues distant the main bulk of the force as it moved slowly over the land, devouring everything in its path.
The beast meant that there were Kesh about, and she had a special place in her heart for them. The old Arnen thought he could dictate events in her forest. He was wrong. She ruled the Azorias, not him. Let them call it by their little common name, for she was a part of it for far longer than any mere mortal, Arnen or not. Their little efforts to extend their petty lives beyond a mere century amused her greatly.
Dragon kind dealt in millennia and eons.
She wanted to watch the death struggle below unfold. It would amuse her to see who died and how, but she had work to do and she didn’t feel comfortable leaving her egg alone with the sisters of the forest so close to it. Most dragons didn’t use magic, though they could dabble in it if it interested them. Tyranna had set a few charms and defensive spells around her lair, just enough to slow and alert her should any approach her precious offspring.
The flight from the barbarian horde over toward the offensive human settlement, known as Blackwell by the locals, took her little time with her massive wings propelling her through the clear skies. Her keen eyes picked up on the fire on the west side of town, and she noticed horses running in every which direction down below. It would take those fools a day at least to gather themselves.
She felt something tugging at her soul, as if there was danger nearby, and that was a rare feeling for a dragon, but one that she heeded. It had kept her alive over the eons, and she wasn’t about to change her intuition now. She couldn’t see it, which vexed her, but she could see the powerful charge of the Kesh mage. His little, frail human body was glowing significantly bright in her ultravision, and she knew that he was a danger to her kind, but someone who could be dealt with under the right circumstances.
So that was what the little Arnen was up to. It dawned on her that while she had called forth her worshippers, the humans were plotting as well. If she understood anything at all, then she understood that her old enemy, the druid, would be moving his pieces around the board as well, and it was obvious that he wanted to have the magic-users play a role in her demise.
Clever little man, she thought to herself. Let’s not disappoint them.
With a massive beating of wings and a good lean to her right, the dragon swept away over the forest and toward her massive lair. She would see to it that the Arnen got his way, only the outcome would not be what the puny human expected.
She would prevail.
“That was close. Are you sure it’s gone?” Gloria asked.
“Yeah, that was intense,” Helvie added. “I have never seen such magic before. Can you always make the ground do as you wish?”
Greyson managed a smile, though he sat on the ground of the cavern that they were hiding in. He was tired from the exertion of making it, and he had to do it in open ground. A tunnel formed that sloped deep into the earth, allowing the group to simply run underground and take refuge when the green dragon approached.
“Can you trust your bird?” Gloria asked Elly.
“Yes, it is telling us exactly what it sees,” Elister explained.
Lucina snickered, a loud snort, even for a woman. “No, you mean it’s telling you. We understand nothing.”
“Speak for yourself,” Greyson said, giving Elly a wink. “I understand Pippen just fine.”
“Pippen?” Helvie asked.
“Yes, well, Pips, actually. He prefers to be called that,” Elister said, tweeting a whistle at the bird. “Oh, he says the dragon has flown away.”
“What direction?” Edric asked.
“Over the forest,” Elly replied.
“Well, that’s a good sign. It didn’t see us,” Gloria said.
Lucina shook her head. “No, it may have not seen us, but it sensed us.”
“What do you mean?” Helvie and Gloria asked in unison.
“I sensed the beast long ago. I could feel its evil as it approached,” Lucina said, closing her eyes and repressing a shudder.
“So?” Gloria asked, stepping over to place a hand gently on the holy woman’s arm.
“It sensed us,” Lucina said, covering Gloria’s hand in her own, which was gauntleted and still ready for battle.
“She’s right,” Greyson added. “The dragon could feel not only our good defender of the faith here”—a nod toward Lucina, indicating the subject of his remarks—“but also it sensed me and Elly.”
“Why you and Elister?” Helvie asked.
“We use the power of the Mother, and dragon kind is keen to its use and the users,” Greyson explained. “It will have sensed the Kesh wizards as well, if it didn’t simply see them.”
“So what now?” Helvie asked. “We seem stuck between the hammer and the anvil.”
“That’s keeping it simple, considering the analogy,” Diamedes said, and several of their group looked at him in confusion. “What I mean to say is that the three forces opposing us are much more dangerous than a hammer and an anvil and—”
“What do you mean by three?” Gloria nudged the smaller historian in the ribs, though gracing him with a smile.
“The barbarians,” he answered.
“Speaking of which, we must see to Beth and Wulfric,” Edric said, concern in his voice, and if the Ranger spoke with concern, the others understood that this was not to be taken lightly.
“Wulfric knows the plan. If they stick to it, then we will meet at Bloodstone Rock.” Greyson stood, with the aid of Elly and Edric, one hand each.
“You didn’t tell us this part of the plan,” Lucina said, opening her eyes and giving the druid a good look.
Greyson nodded and allowed a sigh to escape his lips. “That’s because only those in our order are permitted to know.”
“Know what?” Gloria asked.
“Yeah, what is this Bloodstone Rock of which you speak?” Helvie added.
There was an awkward silence for a long moment before Diamedes spoke, and his interjection was not expected. “Bloodstone Rock is a sacred druid site, forbidden by all to enter except those in the order of the Arnen.”
“You know?” Edric asked, some suspicion in his voice.
“Yes,” Diamedes said, looking at the Ranger. “I am not of your order, but those within have entrusted me with some knowledge, this included.”
“Then you know to speak of it is forbidden as well. Your trust was not earned and severely misplaced by speaking so,” Edric said, sounding stern.
“Let your master judge that, because by my measure, his plan involves leading more than just us to your sacred site, does it not, Arnen Greyson?” Diamedes asked.
Greyson sighed again. He was getting too old for this,
and he was tiring all too quickly nowadays. “You are correct, Royal Historian Diamedes,” Greyson said, returning the formal gesture. “If we are to have any chance of survival, we must lure the Kesh to the one place where my powers are strengthened.”
“Not only the Kesh, though. You best tell them everything,” Diamedes said.
Silence fell, and the group listened intently to their next step. Greyson looked at each in turn. “We must lure not only the Kesh but the green dragon as well.”
Chapter 18
Dangerous Truces
The journey into the Greenfeld was swift, as the forest was close at hand. Several of the companions inquired how the Kesh would track them, or if they would follow at all. Greyson was quick to inform them that the Kesh would not stop till they had Beth and executed her for the death of one of their own. This was Kesh custom and this was Kesh law. That would be enough. As for tracking them, well, Greyson simply used one word to describe how they could do it—magic.
The trip into the forest was an anxious one. The land was known to the Arnen, but they had to skirt the heart of the forest. That was where the dragon resided, and this added to the length of their trip. They traveled the rest of the day and all night and again the next day. There was no sign of the dark dryads and no sign of the green dragon. They had no word or sign either from Beth or Wulfric, and this concerned them, all except Greyson.
“They will meet us at Bloodstone Rock,” he had said. “They are probably already there waiting for us.” But at night, Edric, Elister, and the old druid could be heard discussing the plight of their colleagues and the fact that they felt nothing from Beth’s soul. No inclination that she was alive or dead. The Rangers didn’t have any attunement enough to allow them to be sensed from great distances, so this disturbed them greatly, though they went to great lengths to keep it silent.
Finally, on the second night, they started to rise along the ground where the forest met the mountains. “So your sacred site is near?” Gloria asked, awe in her voice as the trees turned from the leafy oaks and aspens of the forest to mighty reds and blocks of the mountain slopes. The huge trunks were easily three times the girth of the mightiest oak tree of the forest.
The Green Dragon: A Claire-Agon Dragon Book (Dragon Series 3) Page 19