by F. P. Spirit
The slim elf’s response drew a round of laughter from all the riders. Even the brooding Mallona let out a laugh, though it sounded more wicked than cheerful.
Elladan fixed his friend with a dark stare, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’m so glad my predicament kept you entertained.” Before the sandy-haired elf could respond, the bard turned back to the Princess, his expression immediately lightening. “Anyway, where was I?”
Elladan went on with the story of their battle at Ravenford Keep, without any further interruptions. It served to pass the time along the rest of their short journey.
Glo half-listened to the tale, his mind elsewhere. Elistra and Alana needed to be warned of their impending arrival with the Princess. Despite their current “alliance” with the monarch, Glo did not really trust her.
At first, he thought maybe Martan could advise them. Even after things had calmed down in the meadow, there had been no sign of the tracker, Martan sensibly keeping to the woods. His decision to remain hidden might have worked in their favor, if Anya had not had those steeds conjured for them.
At that point, there was no way for Martan to keep up with the riders. So, instead, Glo sent out Raven ahead of them. Elistra had proved to know a bit of elvish. Glo could only hope that it was enough to prepare the two women for their imminent return.
As the monolith finally drew in sight, Glo let out a soft sigh. Elistra, I hope you’re ready.
Aksel Alabaster stood silently at the entrance to the Darkwoods monolith, waiting for his friends to return. He had arrived only a short while ago, leaving Ruka, Maya, and Cal hidden a short distance away in the Darkwoods.
Ruka had wanted to accompany him, but Maya insisted on tagging along as well. Yet, after Glo’s warning about the Princess of Lanfor, the exasperated teen realized she could not expose her younger sister to the mysterious monarch. Thus, Ruka reluctantly agreed to stay behind.
Upon reaching the monolith, Aksel was greeted by Elistra, Alana, and the squire Syndir. They informed him of Elladan’s predicament, and how Lloyd, Glo, and Cyclone had flown off to the bard’s rescue.
Moments later, Raven arrived and squawked to them excitedly in elvish. Thankfully, Elistra was able to make sense of the bird’s message. It seemed that everyone was on their way back, including the Princess. After a short discussion, they sent Syndir off to find and stay with Ruka, while Elistra and Alana went below to wait in the cavern with the Colossus. In the meantime, Aksel stayed at the entrance to greet their “guests.”
Aksel did not have to wait long. Perhaps a quarter of an hour later, a group of riders appeared at the head of the trail at the southern end of the clearing. The travelers sat astride strange, ethereal mounts that appeared to be ghostly horses.
“Ho, Aksel!” came a call from the head rider.
It was Donatello, the sandy-haired elf leading the entourage. He was followed by Elladan, and a pale young human woman, with long blonde hair. The woman wore a regal, if revealing outfit, of black cloth trimmed with gold, and frilly white lace. Aksel immediately surmised that this was the Princess of Lanfor.
The Princess turned her cool gaze on him, her golden eyes looking him slowly up and down. After a moment or two, she gave him a casual nod.
Behind the duo sat Glolindir, the tall elf accompanied by another human woman. This one had fiery red hair, and was covered from head to toe in a scarlet, in sharp contrast to the Princess. The woman turned her intense gaze on Aksel, practically making his skin crawl. He sensed something dark about her, but he could not put his finger on exactly what it was at that moment.
Cyclone, Lloyd, and Lamorn brought up the rear, the tall warrior sharing a ghostly steed with the squire. The group of riders crossed the clearing, halting a short distance from the entrance to the monolith. There, they all dismounted, except for the Princess, the monarch calling over to Elladan.
“Attend me?”
“Of course, Anya.” The elven bard strode to her ghostly mount’s side, and took the Princess by the hand.
Anya then leapt down off her horse and practically fell into Elladan’s arms with a flirtatious giggle. She pressed her body up against his, her hands on the elf’s chest as she gazed up at him with a smoldering stare.
“Thank you, Elladan,” she said in a breathy voice.
Aksel cocked his head to one side. This Princess was certainly not one for propriety. A moment later, she pushed away from Elladan, fixing him with a lingering smile.
To Elladan’s credit, he handled the entire situation without batting an eye. He bowed to the Princess, merely responding, “Anytime, Anya.”
Moments later, the ethereal mounts all blinked out of existence. Aksel was still marveling at the sight when Donnie strode up to him.
“Where’s Ruka? Is she alright?”
Aksel cast a quick glance at Anya, but the Princess seemed disinterested in their conversation, having been pulled into a private exchange with her scarlet-clad attendant. Nonetheless, he kept his response to Donnie terse. “She’s fine. She had personal business to attend to, so she decided to stay behind.”
Donnie gazed at Aksel questioningly, but before he could ask anything further, he was interrupted by Elladan. “Gee, Donnie, you must be losing your touch. A couple of days ago, you couldn’t pry her away from your side.”
Donnie fixed Elladan with a dark stare. Yet before he could retort, he was interrupted by the Princess, who strode up to join them, arm in arm with the scarlet-clad woman. “Who couldn’t be pried away from whom?”
Elladan winked at Donnie, then spun toward the Princess. “Donnie’s just having girl trouble is all.”
The fiery-haired woman hanging off Anya’s arm looked over the slight elf with a condescending stare. “Can’t say I’m surprised.”
Elladan practically snorted out a laugh, while Donnie’s mouth fell agape. Yet Aksel was not amused in the slightest—there were serious matters at hand. He shifted his gaze to the Princess and said, “Is anyone going to introduce us?”
Elladan, still trying to suppress a laugh, performed the formal introductions. “Anya, this is Aksel Alabaster, Cleric of the Soldenar. Aksel, this is the Princess Anya of Lanfor…”
Elladan was unceremoniously interrupted as the redheaded woman stepped forward, reached out a single scarlet clad arm, and forcefully pushed him aside. “That’s Anyabarithia Ulteshto Farbican, the Lady of the Amber Mount, Mistress of the Crystal Towers, and Princess and sole heir to the Kingdom of Lanfor, you dolt.”
Elladan’s mouth hung open, but Anya reached forward and placed a slender restraining hand on the scarlet-clad woman’s shoulder, gently chiding her. “Now, now, Mallona, that’s no way to treat our new friends…”
The Princess turned her gaze toward Aksel, her tone rather lofty. “…and anyway, titles are so boring, don’t you think, Cleric Aksel? You may call me Anya.”
The rude exchange had caught Aksel by surprise, but he quickly recovered by executing a low bow to the Princess. “Just Aksel then, Anya.”
Anya continued to survey him, her eyes dancing with amusement. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a Cleric of the Soldenar before. Tell me, what’s she like?”
Aksel spiked an impressed eyebrow. Anya must have been rather well studied in the Ralnain mythos, the pantheon of the material gods and greater powers, to know that the Soldenar was a female deity. Once again, he kept his response short. “She’s demanding, yet fair.”
Anya’s eyes narrowed shrewdly at his simple reply. “Well spoken. I can see you like to get straight to the point. I admire that.” The Princess let out a long, dramatic sigh. “It has been a long journey for me, and I’d like to get this over with already.”
Aksel scrunched his nose and narrowed an eye, his head cocking to one side. “Get what over with?”
Anya’s face took on a bored expression, her tone correspondingly weary
. “Why, the destruction of the Colossus, of course.”
Aksel felt all the blood drain from his face. The destruction of the Colossus? Is she crazy? How in the world did she intend to do that? An even better question—why did she want to?
Anya waved a dismissive hand in the air, signifying that their conversation was over. “I’ll let your friends explain things to you.” She then turned to Elladan and held out a pale, slender hand. “Attend me?”
Elladan cast a sympathetic glance at Aksel, then took the Princess by the hand. “Of course, Anya. Right this way.” The bard then led the Princess past a bewildered Aksel, and through the archway that led into the monolith, Donnie and the scarlet-clad Mallona following closely behind.
Aksel, still flabbergasted, spun to face Glo, the wizard having just strode up with Lloyd, Cyclone, and the young squire, Lamorn. Aksel stared at them incredulously, trying to speak, but instead stumbled over his words. “Des… destroy… the Colossus? Would someone please explain to me what in Thac is going on here?”
Aksel rushed down the stairs from the sub-basement to the cavern that held the Colossus, striving to catch up to the Princess Anya and the others. Glo and Lloyd had explained to him all that had transpired while he was away, including the sighting of the airship, the exchange of messages, their plan to meet with the Princess, Elladan’s transformation, Anya’s ‘testing’ of them with her dragons, and the subsequent discussion concerning the destruction of the Colossus.
Aksel had listed carefully to all they had told him, swiftly realizing this Princess Anya was not to be trusted. When the trio was done with their story, Aksel sent Lamorn off to stay with Ruka and Syndir. The little cleric then spun on his heel and hurried into the monolith, waving for the rest of them to follow.
Aksel’s mind raced as they dashed up and down the monolith to catch up with the others. He intrinsically understood all that Anya had told them about the dangers of holding onto the Colossus. The huge construct truly was a weapon of mass destruction, and in the wrong hands it could certainly be used to destroy all of Thac—possibly even the entire world of Arinthar.
Still, he had to question Anya’s source of information. Even if she was telling the truth, he was not certain of this advisor of hers, Theramon. Perhaps he was the expert Anya claimed him to be, but then again, perhaps not. Aksel had read some of the ancient texts from the time of the Thrall Wars. Having come from many sources, they were filled with contradictory information. Thus, it was hard to tell what was true, and what was a specific author’s fanciful creation. Experts on the subject seemed to agree that Dreamweaver’s chronicles were the de facto source on the Thrall Wars, but even those texts contained questionable passages.
There was one story in particular that Aksel always found hard to believe. In the last battle of the war, Dreamweaver claimed the prince of all demons appeared on the field, a huge creature nearly twenty feet tall. He then went on to detail how the demon prince was defeated in an epic struggle by a single warrior. Try as he might, Aksel could not imagine a lone warrior triumphing over the mightiest of creatures from the Abyss.
Aksel’s musings were cut short as they reached the bottom of the stairs. He came to a sudden halt—Anya, Mallona, and Elladan were all stopped in front of him at the edge of the alcove, the Princess’ mouth agape.
“That thing is huge!” Anya managed a strangled cry.
Mallona stood protectively next to the Princess, regarding the Colossus as if it were a direct threat. An almost inhuman growl escaped her throat as she glared up at the huge golem defiantly.
Aksel swiftly gazed around the cavern, his eyes sweeping across the walkway. Alana stood a little more than halfway across the bridge, shield in one hand, her other hand resting on the hilt of her sword. Donnie had crossed over to join her, the slight elf speaking avidly with the lady knight.
The little cleric continued his sweep, searching for Elistra, his eyes widening as they rose to the top of the Colossus. Elistra sat comfortably upon the stone throne—the seeress had removed her black and red cap with the yellow stars, and in its place, wore the golem’s crown upon her comely brow. She gazed down upon them as if a goddess from on high, though her expression was hard to read from this distance.
Anya must have noticed the seeress at the same time as Aksel. She lifted a pale slender finger and pointed toward the top of the Colossus, her voice filled with suspicion. “And just who is that?”
Elladan followed her gaze, his face registering his surprise. The bard immediately recovered, responding to the Princess in a reassuring tone. “That? Oh, that is just our friend, Elistra.”
Anya was not mollified by his answer, her eyes remaining firmly fixed on the seeress. “And just what is she doing up there?”
Aksel had been wondering the same exact thing. Yet Elladan took her question in stride, responding smoothly with an answer probably not very far from the truth. “Elistra? She is merely protecting the golem’s control mechanism.”
Anya turned her narrow-eyed gaze upon Elladan, her voice still filled with distrust. “Really? Well, she might want to get down from there, since you are planning on destroying the creature.”
Elladan responded by turning up the charm, flashing the Princess his patented half-smile. “I’m sure she will, but first, wouldn’t you like a closer look at the Colossus?”
Another growl emanated from Mallona’s throat, but Anya held up a slim hand, her face flushing slightly as a sensual smile spread across her lips. “Easy, Mallona. Elladan is quite right. This ‘Colossus’ intrigues me. I believe I would like a closer look before it is demolished.”
Elladan continued to wear that smile as he offered his arm to the Princess. “Well then, shall we?”
Anya took his proffered arm, and then allowed Elladan to lead her across the walkway. Mallona reluctantly followed, her eyes still glued to Elistra on the throne above them.
Aksel glanced over his shoulder before striding after them, and whispered softly to the others. “Stay close.”
He was not quite sure what was going to happen, but Aksel trusted neither Anya nor her scarlet-clad servant. If either attempted to wrestle control of the Colossus away from Elistra, he wanted everyone nearby and ready to thwart them.
The Princess, Elladan, and Mallona slowly crossed the walkway, halting to gaze over the side at the body of the Colossus. Anya leaned over the rail, marveling at the seventy-foot-tall creature, her pale features flushing even further. “My, my… that is enormous.”
Elladan leaned next to the Princess, still wearing that charming smile as a short laugh escaped his throat. “Heh. I think we said the same thing the first time we saw it.”
Anya shifted her gaze to the bard and locked eyes with him. She said nothing further, but it was obvious, even to Aksel, that Anya was quite interested in the handsome young elf. The scarlet-clad Mallona remained close at hand, practically seething at the attention her liege was giving to this newcomer.
About a minute passed before Anya finally stood up, and took Elladan’s arm once again. The pair resumed their march across the walkway, with Mallona following close behind. The trio had nearly reached Alana and Donnie when they crossed the halfway point and entered the Colossus’ antimagic field.
Elladan and Anya continued on, but Mallona abruptly halted, a low moan escaping her lips. Anya immediately whirled around, thoughtlessly pushing Elladan aside. “Mallona, what’s wrong?”
It was the first sign of genuine concern Aksel had heard the Princess utter. Mallona clasped her hands on either side of her head as if she was in agony.
“I… I can’t hold it!” she cried, her voice filled with pain and fear.
Abruptly her body began to glow. It grew brighter and brighter, until it was hard to look at with the naked eye. The intense white light began to swell in size, forcing everyone to back away down either side of the walkway.
Aksel shaded his eyes as he retreated, unable to tear his gaze from the alarming transformation. He watched with growing fear as the torso shifted onto all fours, the neck drastically elongated, and a pair of large, bat-like wings sprouting out of the back. The brilliance swiftly faded away, leaving in its wake a rather large red dragon.
Colossal Destruction
You shall not pass, foul beast!
Aksel stared in awe at the fearsome creature that stood before them. Easily thirty feet long, the red dragon was covered from the top of its serpentine neck to the tip of its long, sinuous tail in thick leathery crimson scales, all except for the underside, which was a rich brown. Long, tapered, bat-like wings extended from the creature’s back, a deep scarlet color, but with a burnt-blue tint along the bottom edge.
The fierce dragon reared up its neck, lifting its large head well above the walkway. Two massive brown horns swept back atop the skull, flanked by a pair of crimson-fringed ears. The head was capped by a backswept scarlet crest that ran down the neck and along the spine, all the way to the tip of its long, twitching tail.
Small flames came alight across the beast’s nostrils and eyes. It opened its beaked snout, a forked tongue flickering in and out between wicked dagger-like teeth, as it let out a terrifying roar. The bone-chilling sound reverberated off the cavern walls, forcing Aksel to cover his ears. As the sound died down, the distinct odor of sulfur and pumice reached the little cleric’s nostrils.
“Mallona!” Anya cried, her voice rising nearly an octave. The Princess, looking rather nervous, put her hands out in front of her as she took a step toward the angry red dragon. “It’s okay, Mallona. Everything’s going to be okay.”
The great head swiveled around on its serpentine neck, as the large beast focused its attention on the Princess. Aksel wasn’t sure if she was calming the creature down, or irritating it further. Elladan must have thought the same thing.
“What are you, crazy?” the bard cried.