Sword and Illusion

by Nancy S. Brandt

  Moonrazer thought about the escape routes she had arranged for the princesses, and the troops she had trained. If it became necessary for her to rescue Varian's sisters, she should be able to save them.

  A small man, dressed in purple and gold robes, approached the thrones.

  Moonrazer had been introduced to the Dragonspeaker Duruno that morning, when she'd met all of the Andarnnon contingent.

  "Your Highnesses," Duruno said, "I want to talk about the order of the rituals. First, the Dragons will arrive, and we will present Princess Moonrazer to them. They will determine if she is truly a Dragonmarked princess as she was not marked by the Dragon of Tellan. Then, of course, there is the matter of a Dragonborn heir, or lack thereof."

  Over his shoulder, Moonrazer could see the other platform. Rillaur watched them, and even from this distance, she saw hatred and bloodlust in his eyes. She had been a warrior too long to mistake such emotions.

  Varian leaned over and kissed her. She looked again at Rillaur and was surprisingly pleased to see his anger grow. An angry man was a foolish one.

  "We are ready, Duruno," Varian said.

  Duruno bowed. "I should get the Festival started." As he moved to the edge of the platform, he glanced to the side, and a small orchestra began a fanfare.

  The people in between the two high platforms quieted and turned to look up at the Dragonspeaker.

  "A Dragonkiller was born to this world long ago," he said, his voice carrying over the people more clearly than Moonrazer would have thought possible given the size of the arena. She realized that his voice was probably enhanced by magic.

  "Since that time, the Curse has stood between us and the Dragons, protecting both sides," he continued. "I call the Dragons to come to offer their judgment, and ask Varian of Tellan to take his place on the Dragon's Eye Dais to await it."

  Varian stood, took Moonrazer's hand, and they began to walk toward the center of the field. There they mounted the stairs to the short, circular platform, inlaid with opalescent red and yellow stones. Moonrazer scanned the skies.

  Soon angular, bat-like shapes appeared in the distance, swooping lower. As they approached through the morning sun, the background sounds of birds and insects were gradually subdued. Great shadows swept across the parade ground, light glinted off of scales that matched the stones of the Dais.

  Suddenly, the air was filled with screeching and the sound of a mighty wind. Even with her familiarity with Nightwind, Moonrazer feared this show of force by at least a dozen Dragons. None were as large as Nightwind, but together they made quite an awesome spectacle.

  The largest Dragon of the group landed between the two platforms, causing a riot of people racing to the edges of the arena. The top of his head was surrounded by a large, flat, iridescent yellow shield of bone, edged with long horns. His thin, serpent-like body had high, flat razor scales running along the spine and long tail.

  Moonrazer raised her hand to her eyes and studied the length of him. Four sets of legs grew along his torso, and human-like hands and arms with long black talons sprouted just below his neck. His great body was so huge that Moonrazer wondered if an archer standing by the tip of the tail would be able to strike the head.

  "That is Cloudburst, the King of the Dragons," Varian said in awe.

  Moonrazer said, "He is smaller than Nightwind."

  "Cloudburst, the King of the Dragons," Duruno announced. Moonrazer suspected he enjoyed his position as Dragonspeaker and the attention it afforded him.

  "Great Dragon King, we present to you the Princess of Tellan, who claims to be with child. She is Dragonmarked of Nightwind, the Protector of Carrick. Judge if there truly is a worthy fulfillment of the Treaties between the Dragons and the wizards."

  The massive creature leaned close, turning his head sideways so that his great eye came close to her. She was conscious of the placement of her weapons on her body and the nearness of that vulnerable target.

  The huge eye orb was multi-colored, with orange and green filaments surrounding the cat-like slit in the center. It was as large as a shield was tall, and she could see herself reflected in the dark surface, a warrior in white and gray. He withdrew his head slightly and seemed to sniff her. Then he lifted his head into the air and let out a stream of fire. The other Dragons did the same. She felt the odd presence of Dragon magic stir through her, and, as though in response, the baby in her womb kicked. She smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

  "She is with child," Duruno said. "The King of Dragons has heard the child kicking."

  A cheer rose up from the Tellan side of the parade grounds.

  "Silence!" Duruno said. When the roar died down, he continued, "Cloudburst said before Moonrazer met Nightwind, she fought and slew members of Dragonkind. She fought in self-defense, and honorably, so we permit her to step aside. However, this prevents her from being Dragonmarked."

  "No!" Moonrazer cried. "They were not Dragons. They were men, wrapped in illusion."

  "Cloudburst says there was no such deception," Duruno said. "The bodies of the dead were brought to him."

  Moonrazer stared up at Cloudburst, puzzled. She had killed Dragons after all? How was that possible?

  Duruno spoke. "The King asks if there is any other heir you may present."

  "Now, you give Tellan to me." Rillaur's voice carried across the arena, even over the murmurs of Dragon breath.

  Varian glared at the King of Andarnnon, but he gestured to the members of his court, and all of them, including Moonrazer and Varian's sisters, began walking forward with the Transfer Treaty.

  When they all reached the Dragon's Eye Dais, Varian looked at his wife, and his eyes were filled with sorrow.

  Rillaur spoke. "Before the Dragons make their judgment of the rulers of Tellan, Prince Varian will transfer rule to me."

  The crowd of Tellan wizards erupted in protest, but Varian ignored them and signed the paper. Moonrazer took his hand when he'd finished and squeezed it.

  "I hope this is the right decision."

  "It is the only one remaining," Varian said.

  Rillaur, looking gleeful, raised the treaty high.

  "I am ruler of Tellan," he said, facing Cloudburst. "I have a Dragonmarked wife and a Dragonborn heir."

  Cloudburst roared, but this time the other Dragons did not follow suit.

  Duruno stared at the Dragon and began to tremble. Then he turned to Rillaur.

  "Cloudburst asks that Varian, Moonrazer, and the members of the Tellan Court clear the Dais. This judgment is for the presenter alone." His voice was strained, and he fell to his knees, clearly in some kind of agony.

  "What is wrong with you?" Rillaur glared at the man below him.

  Duruno opened and closed his mouth, but no words came out.

  To Moonrazer's surprise, Cloudburst looked at Varian, and a low hum vibrated the platform.

  Varian's eyes grew wide as Cloudburst snarled at him, and he took Moonrazer's hand and led her away from the Dais. The members of his court followed.

  "What is happening?" Moonrazer asked.

  "Cloudburst knows that Rillaur had Elizabeth Louise murdered."

  Rillaur held the treaty high. His people cheered, but that stopped instantly when Cloudburst rose up on his rear legs and bellowed. The sound of ferocity and anger shook the ground, knocking Rillaur to his knees.

  Duruno stood and spoke again, his voice shriller than before. "King Rillaur of Andarnnon. You ordered the murder of Elizabeth Louise, a Dragonmarked princess, and her son, Cyprian, a legitimate Dragonborn heir to the Tellan throne."

  Rillaur paled, and a collective gasp rose from both sides of the field.

  Gloriana fainted at this news, and Moonrazer hurried to catch her. Several women of the court burst into tears. Estelle stood stoically next to her brother, never taking her eyes off the King of Andarnnon.

  "Now, he will pay for what he has done," Varian's sister said, her voice flat. She would make a formidable ally, and Moonrazer was proud to have her as a fri
end.

  "Stand and face judgment," Duruno said, his voice a screech. Blood oozed from the ducts of his blind eyes.

  Rillaur stood and turned away from the Dragon, but a jet of flame enveloped him. The stream of fire was small and thin, clearly much less than Cloudburst was capable of, but it was enough.

  Instead of killing Rillaur instantly, it set him aflame. He began to scream.

  He fell to the ground and started rolling, but the Dragon sent another tongue of flame. After a few moments of thrashing, he lay still. Flames crackled on his motionless form. Screams erupted from everyone in the arena. Moonrazer herself felt as though the air had rushed out of her lungs.

  Duruno was gibbering now, his hands stretched out toward his burning lord.

  Varian took Moonrazer's hand, pain etched on his face. "Cloudburst is calling me to judgment. I want you to remember that I love you."

  Duruno stood and faced the crowd, as if he were a puppet and some unseen hand yanked his strings. He was calling out the words of the curse in a sing-song voice:

  Rulers of Tellan, now be cursed, Dragonslayers, for your death we thirst,

  Unless by your loins an heir is born, then from your flesh we'll take our fill,

  And your house's blood will be our swill,

  Unless by the mother a Dragonmark is borne

  We'll burn your people's very bones, grind the flesh and smash with stones,

  Fire and ashes, Dark and Pain,

  Until on Tellan the Dragons reign.

  Varian kissed Moonrazer and walked with head high toward the Dais and his death. It was what she would have done in his place, and she loved him for it.

  Well, it was almost what she would have done.

  Narrowing her eyes, she glared at Cloudburst. She would not let this Dragon harm anyone she loved.

  Varian was unaware when she took the sword out of his belt; he was entranced by the Dragon. Cloudburst roared, and Moonrazer knew that if she didn't act now, her beloved Varian would be nothing but a pile of ashes that mirrored the remains of King Rillaur.

  She ran toward the end of the platform, intending to leap on Cloudburst's back. She planned to plunge her sword behind his head and into the small, soft region at the top of the neck.

  The great Dragon reared up to avoid her.

  She rolled to her side and jumped to her feet, lifting a layer of the silken steel over her head to protect her from the heat and flame.

  Her shield protected her as the flame boiled down, but where she held the fabric in place, her fingers began to blister. However, the pain was bearable, and she smiled. Cloudburst had miscalculated.

  Now she had the cover of smoke.

  With all of her strength, she ran toward one of the guards and grabbed his bow. As she ran, she spied one of Cloudburst's legs and aimed.

  The sheer mass of the Dragon's presence was somehow visible to her.

  She fired.

  Cloudburst howled in anguish, and a great wall of flame descended toward her through the smoke, nearly striking her. She hid behind one of his own legs. It was more than protection enough against the heat and fire.

  When the flame cleared, she grabbed at the scaled appendage and climbed toward his back.

  As she moved, a strange feeling washed over her. Dragon magic stirred in her soul. Fearing what Cloudburst might do she quickened her pace.

  She recognized the hopelessness of her situation. This was just one of over a hundred Dragons, and he was their king. The rest of them would want revenge if she killed Cloudburst, and even if she were strong enough to defeat one, the rest would tear her apart.

  As the magic flowed through her, its purpose became clear. She was so startled she lost her grip.

  The transformation to her Dragon self had begun.

  How was this possible? Nightwind was not here.

  She landed on the ground. Suddenly, Cloudburst did not appear so large.

  The world looked strange, but for the first time since her Change began, she felt as powerful as she had been at her prime, when she’d found the Sword of Justice.

  Her rage against Cloudburst came out in a mighty yell.

  A deep blue light erupted out of her mouth in a huge stream. She'd never done anything like this while with Nightwind, so she was surprised that instead of fire, shards of ice and dancing crystals of snow flew toward the King of the Dragons.

  Cloudburst stepped back from her, his body covered in ice. She had, naturally, dropped the sword, but she now had talons and teeth.

  "You are a Dragon." Cloudburst's voice echoed in her mind.

  "I am an Exalted Warrior," she told him. "Nightwind's magic transformed me."

  Cloudburst shook his immense head, smoke wafting from his snout.

  "This is not his magic. This is your true form, Moonrazer of Sarl. You are a Dragon Daughter."

  She stared at the other creature, not comprehending his words. "How is this possible?" Even as she spoke, however, she got a glimmer of understanding. "I know only one thing about my father. His name is Lullo."

  At this, Cloudburst roared.

  All the other Dragons dropped to their knees. Moonrazer looked around.

  Cloudburst looked at his followers, and then turned to her. "You are an Ice Dragon. Never before have we seen one. They are the stuff of stories and legends."

  The mind speaking gave Moonrazer the ability to understand Cloudburst's feelings as well as his words, and he was angry at the other Dragons’ behavior.

  "I have no desire to be their queen," Moonrazer said, kneeling in front of him on her forelegs. "I only desire that the people of Tellan be allowed to live in peace, with Varian as their prince."

  Varian's thoughts came to her then, and she realized Cloudburst could hear him too. "What does this mean for the curse?"

  Cloudburst roared and sent a gout of flame into the air. "No longer is there separation between men who are descended from Dragon Killers, and our kind. Our families are united and the curse, of necessity, is broken."

  Now Varian, his face shining, faced to his people. "The Dragons have returned to Tellan. The Curse is broken forever."

  Duruno rose. "It is as he says, the Curse is ended. The people of Tellan are free."

  Cloudburst, King of the Dragons, roared again. His herd stood again and echoed his sounds.

  "Ice Dragon Moonrazer, will you fly with us?" Cloudburst spoke, and Duruno translated for the people.

  Moonrazer stood and bowed her head. "No. My people are here."

  Cloudburst reared up on his hind legs and took to the air. The other Dragons circled the sky with him, soaring into the mid-morning clouds.

  Moonrazer stared after them and found herself in human form again. A part of her, the Dragon part, wanted to ascend to the heavens with the other creatures.

  "Moonrazer?"

  She looked at Varian and the Dragon in her quieted. Her heart knew where it belonged.

  About the Authors

  Steven has a PhD in general relativity from the University of Illinois, which means that watching science fiction on TV with him is fun on many levels. Currently, he is an IT consultant and an adjunct professor of computer science at Louisiana State University. When he's not writing or working, he runs, plays computer games, and naps.

  Nancy is a stay-at-home mom and full-time writer/editor for a small epublisher. She is an Army veteran, kidney transplant recipient and cancer survivor, as well as a long time member of Weight Watchers. She's been writing romantic fiction for over 20 years and has had two books published prior to this one. Her hobbies include many kinds of needlework, digital scrapbooking and making jewelry. She likes to say she "lives" on Facebook.

  The Brandts are active in their church and love spending time with their two children, a daughter who is a recent college graduate and a son who will start fourth grade in the fall.

  Also from Astraea Press

  Prologue

  Alan stood straight like an arrow. Sir Oriol walked down the line of Junior offi
cers and stopped directly in front of him.

  “You've been chosen for this mission because someone thinks you are the best,” the man said, eyes locking on Alan as if trying to make him falter. Instead he stood straighter, and Sir Oriol continued down the line. “As you know, we are here to stop the war on Altura from spreading to this planet. The people here are much like us. They call their home Earth.

  “The inhabitants of this planet do not need to suffer from our war. We are to move in, eliminate the threat, and move out before the Earth people realize the truth. They are not as educated in the universe as we are. They do not know there is other life beyond their own. We do not want to start a widespread panic.