It was not one Vraad who finally materialized before them nor was it two. Dru almost wanted to laugh. If there was one other motive than survival that could band life enemies together, it was vengeance.
A full score and more faced them down. Dru was certain he counted at least three dozen, most of them the strongest among the Vraad, and leading them was one with a special hatred for the Tezerenee, a Vraad who should have been dead.
“Silesti,” Rendel hissed. “Where is Dekkar, do you suppose?”
Dru stirred, realizing that the Tezerenee did not know about the patriarch’s command that both Dekkar and Silesti finish their feud. He was certain that both of them had died, but if the black-garbed figure was truly who he appeared to be, then Rendel faced an added danger. Silesti was one of the deadliest sorcerers, his millennium-old feud having honed his skills. Nimth’s situation had apparently not caused him much difficulty, if his entrance was anything to go by. It was evident that he had brought the others with him.
“Dru Zeree.” Silesti dipped his head in formal greeting. “I had thought the reptiles had done away with you.” His eyes were wide and bright. He wore the same darkly elegant bodysuit that he had been clad in the moment when Barakas had condemned the two rivals. There had been only one change, a small rainbow crest on the shoulder that Dru recollected had once been the symbol of his eternal adversary, Dekkar. It was a homage to a worthy foe.
“It was by my own doing that I was lost.”
The leader of the unlikely band shrugged. “We have until Nimth takes us to talk of that. What concerns me, concerns all of us, is that one.”
It was to Rendel’s credit that he merely acknowledged the remark and made no sudden attempt to flee. Dru knew that in the Tezerenee’s place he would have been considering any option that would have gained him freedom.
“Before you attempt anything, Silesti, I have a proposition.”
“You want him first? By all means! You deserve it, only see that you keep him living!” He indicated those with him, a sea of nearly identical images with the exact same expression. Had looks actually been able to kill someone, there would have remained only a scorched mark where Rendel now stood.
“That’s not what I meant.” This would be delicate. If what Dru said failed to placate the bitter spellcasters, then he and Xiri would probably share Rendel’s fate. He took a long breath and then, before the restless muttering grew any louder, presented them with the carrot on the stick. “I have a path of escape for us… all of us.”
Several faces grew hopeful, but more than a few darkened. They had been betrayed once, and because they were Vraad, it was easy for them to imagine someone pulling the same ploy. Silesti’s expression was unreadable, but his skin had turned a deep crimson.
“You… intrigue us. Tell us more.”
There was a protest from within the group, but it quickly subsided after a single glance from their chosen spokesman.
Wishing he had the oratory skills of the patriarch, Dru detailed his mishap and what had become of him. The faces before him kept changing as emotions rose and fell. He said as little as possible about the guardians and their masters, deciding it was not yet time to tell as arrogant a people as his that they had been a failed experiment, but emphasized how there were those who shared their desire to survive. When he had finished, Silesti and the others conferred with one another.
Dru squeezed Xiri’s hand and met Rendel’s wary gaze. Neither could guess whether the vengeful band believed them. Dru was ready to defend both himself and Xiri with whatever it cost and Rendel would do no less for himself.
It was Silesti, as was expected, who announced the decision. His eyes kept switching from Dru to Rendel as he spoke. “If you were this one”—he indicated the Tezerenee with a savage jerk of his head—“we would already be taking our pleasure with your agonized screams. Because it is you, however, I, at least, am inclined to risk trusting you. That reptile… is there reason to spare him?”
“If you want my aid. Rendel is as trapped as we are. He knows more about the realm beyond than even I do.” That was a matter of debate, but he was not going to tell them so. “We’ll also need him when we confront Barakas… or would you care to begin your first moments after the cross-over fighting the Tezerenee?”
As angered as they were, Silesti’s people were no fools. “Others might not agree with what you say.”
“Between us, I think they’ll force themselves to listen. Isn’t life more important at this point? Do any of you want to remain in this hellhole we created?”
That was the point that none of them could deny. Even Silesti looked weary, now that the desire for vengeance was forced to subside. It was raw emotion that had kept these Vraad going. How were those with less strength surviving?
They were all looking at him in expectation, waiting to be told what to do. Why was he forced to lead them? All he wanted was to find his daughter and leave this place. When had he developed such a care for the survival of his undeserving race?
“I need help. From you, if possible. Many of the others will probably make their way here as the hours pass, and I don’t think I can control them all. We might even have to fetch some of those still drowning in self-pity and convince them that I speak the truth. That’s assuming you believe me. This is a sick jest. If I lie, you know I have nowhere to run from you. I swear I speak the truth. My life is my—” He stopped. His pledge would have sounded much too like the ones given by Barakas. Dru did not want to remind his counterparts of what had happened last time they had believed a pledge of honor. “I won’t fail you,” he finished up, wishing that he could have thought of something better to say.
“We’ve already given our assent, Zeree,” Silesti commented. “You should have guessed that by the fact that the Tezerenee had not been flayed already.”
Dru nodded in relieved gratitude. He knew what he had to say next. “I ask you to help coordinate steps, Silesti.”
The mob leader’s chest swelled. He acquiesced with a slight tip of his head. His eyes were gleaming.
The choice was the best one. Silesti’s control of the band proved he had the presence and might necessary. It also gave the plan a look of cooperation. Making others an integral part of the plan would build up their faith in Dru. Unobserved for once, Dru tried to relax. It was a fruitless attempt. There was too much to do and he still worried over the fact that Sharissa had not shown up yet. Dru had expected her to be one of the first. More worries. Would it ever end?
“My father could not have handled it better.” Rendel had come up behind him, but Dru had been too overwrought to notice. Xiri made it a point of switching sides so that she would be farther away from the Tezerenee. “You left out quite a bit, didn’t you?”
“What if I did? Some of it probably would have resulted in your demise… and perhaps ours, too.”
Rendel shrugged. “I meant nothing by it.” He smiled in gracious fashion. “You have only my admiration.”
There was a way that the Tezerenee had about him that demanded questioning by Dru. “You seem very pleased, more so than I would have thought.”
“Why not?” With visible effort, Rendel created an emerald dragon-scale suit with a glittering cloak that moved even when there was no wind. He was greatly satisfied with his results and smiled again. “Despite that thing you call a guardian, I will cross again. I will have what is rightfully mine.”
Dru wished he shared the pale-haired spellcaster’s confidence. Rendel’s words had stirred a nameless fear within him, a fear that the journey to the shrouded realm would be far from simple.
A fear that Nimth itself would not let them leave.
XIX
The night passed, though it was nearly impossible to believe that since the sky remained unchanged. The storm still grew, yet did not unleash its fury. Illumination from the green mass above still kept Nimth bathed in a parody of sunset. Xiri forced Dru to rest and he perhaps succeeded in sleeping an hour, but overall it was no use. Too
much preyed on his torn mind. Vraad gathered in greater and greater numbers and still there was no Sharissa. Unable to rest any longer, Dru wandered among his people and asked several of those he knew if they had seen her. Several could not be bothered to remember. In some ways he could not blame them. They wanted to leave Nimth and be done with it. To most Vraad, the only reason to ask the whereabouts of a child of theirs was so that said offspring would not be able to mount a surprise assault on their domain.
Only when he realized that Melenea was also among those still missing did the tall sorcerer have an inkling of why his daughter might not have been able to reach him.
“I have to leave,” he whispered to Xiri. “We have to leave. There is an enchantress called Melenea.” Dru could not recall at the moment whether he had told the elf of his former lover, but that did not matter. Even if he had said something, he needed to say it now. “She’s a Vraad of the worst extremes. Her entire life is built around what she likes to call games, but which others have often called insanity.”
The Tezerenee returned. His eyes burned with anger and not a little fear. The more Vraad who arrived, the less comfortable he felt. Only Dru’s presence and word of honor kept the growing mass from trying to take him.
“Going somewhere? I think not,” Rendel warned, keeping his voice low so that the rest of the Vraad could not hear him. He had remained close by, drawing protection from Dru’s mere presence. An unwelcome, eavesdropping shadow that Dru was regretting. “Not, at least, until I’m across!”
The two faced off. “It’s a fallacy that the Tezerenee understand what caring for a son or daughter means, but that doesn’t give you the right to command me, Rendel!”
“Would you like me to tell them that you plan to abandon them? I doubt whether I’d have to worry much about my hide if I did! It would be you they were after, outsider! You and your sweet pet here!”
Xiri had already proven her bravery time and again, but the covetous look Rendel gave her turned her face pale. Her eyes were daggers as she tried to pretend his implications meant nothing to her.
“They’d still take you, don’t think otherwise! I won’t be bullied, dragon! You don’t want me as your enemy!”
Rendel tried a new tactic. “You were given a purpose when the guardians sent you back here.”
It could not be denied. Dru took a deep breath. “Rendel, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do except probably bring you all to the one rift that I know of, the one in the far reaches of my lands.”
“Is that it?” The Tezerenee laughed out loud, causing more than one head to turn. “I’ll take them there! Go on and find your get! I’ll make certain they cross safely.”
Dru could read some of what Rendel planned by the minute but visible changes in his expression. Somehow, Rendel would try to make certain it was he to whom the other Vraad owed a debt. He wondered just how much of a fool Rendel was. Most of the Vraad would still want his hide even after the crossing, preferably in many screaming pieces. He was a part of something they hated and this was their opportunity to strike back.
“If anyone leads them, it should be the one called Silesti,” Xiri suggested. Her dislike for the Vraad race was still strong, but if there were any who could be trusted other than Dru, it was the somber Silesti. Dru agreed. Silesti’s contribution to the new plan was growing with each addition to the ranks. He appeared to have been born for this moment. Everyone looked to him as the symbol of defiance, defiance against the draconian Tezerenee clan. Barakas had tried to kill him, so the rumors now went, and had failed.
Silesti had already proved his ability as a leader, something that came as a bit of a shock to Dru and possibly the somber warlock himself. Dru wondered if it was his way of filling the void left by the abrupt end of his lifelong duel with Dekkar. Thinking of the duel, he wondered again how Silesti had survived. The other Vraad had not offered a reason and no one had the audacity to ask. For now, it did not really matter. What mattered to him was that he and Silesti both trusted and respected each other now. Had he dared to consider the black-suited Vraad’s last conversation with him, a simple talk over questions raised by some of the newcomers, Dru might have even gone so far as to say the two of them liked one another… at least a tiny bit.
“It will be Silesti.”
Rendel’s mask of calm nearly slipped away. Rage spread like wildfire and it was all he could do to keep from screaming. “As you like it! We will speak again in the Dragonrealm.”
He turned and caught sight of Silesti and several others, all of whom had an avid interest in the conversation between Dru and the Tezerenee. It was clear that they were hoping for some kind of break between the two so that Rendel would no longer be protected from their wrath.
The Tezerenee paused, measuring their emotions, and stepped back until he was next to Dru. Without meeting Dru’s eyes, he whispered in a cold tone, “I will be waiting for you, Zeree. Waiting for all of you to bow to me, not my father.”
The pale-haired warlock pushed past Dru and strode off into the deserted sectors of the city.
“Perhaps someone will find him alone and unprotected among the ruins,” Xiri suggested, watching the receding figure with disgust. “What did he mean by that last?”
Several Vraad had stirred the moment Rendel had walked away. Silesti rushed over to Dru and Xiri.
“What happened? Where did that reptile go? Is he coming back?”
It had only become clear to Dru now what the Tezerenee had meant. A search of the city would reveal nothing of him. “He’s gone. He won’t be with us.”
“Will he escape to the Dragonrealm?” The ebony-garbed figure spouted. Not having another name for it, the Vraad as a whole had unconsciously adopted the one coined by Barakas.
First victory to you, patriarch! Dru thought in sour humor. “He may. Rendel knows where I planned to go and he knows much concerning the shrouded realm and its intrusions here. Still…” An idea dawned, one that he did not care for. “I could be wrong about the location. The place I fell through might not be our way out. Rendel might be following a dead trail!”
“If he gets left behind…” Silesti smiled at the image. “What a perfect fate! Better than any torture! Nimth will kill him far more slowly than we would!”
“Yet he may escape to the other side if the rift does prove open,” Xiri pointed out.
Silesti still had a bit of trouble dealing with an elf. Because she was Dru’s close companion, he had succeeded so far in treating her with at least some respect. “Then we will track him down at our leisure once we have finally reached our new home!”
That was Dru’s opening. What Rendel did could be dealt with once they were all safe and secure, but Sharissa was a subject that could wait no longer. “I think it might be best to see if there is another path through. I know what to look for now. If the way I know of is closed or if it only opens periodically, then I should find that out before we dare lead the others there. Are there those you can trust to act in concert with you? Those who can keep our people trusting for a time longer? It might take into the morning to do what I must.”
The other Vraad frowned. “That sounds as if you will be leaving us.”
“I won’t be here for a time, that’s all. There’s still more I have to do. I want the cross-over to work.”
“You underestimate me.” Silesti’s visage grew troubled. “Or perhaps you do not trust me. That you care for your daughter is a mystery to many of us. Now she is missing and you want to find her; that is what you are really thinking about. You asked where Melenea was and I know that she’s also among the missing. I, for one, would draw the same conclusion as you have, that Melenea has your Sharissa. She has always been a vindictive and deadly bitch and this smells like one of her mad games! Only she would play when the world is crumbling about her!”
As opposed to the rest of the Vraad, Dru thought with what he considered justified criticism. Left abandoned by Lord Barakas, had they attempted their own plan of escape?
Hardly. He did not, of course, reveal any of this to Silesti. It would have been unfair, anyway. Dru was just as guilty as the rest. Only the past two decades had he attempted to redeem himself. “I meant what I said about the cross-over, Silesti. I do want to check my work before we try. We know what will happen if the others feel they’ve been betrayed again.”
“And I would join you as one of those facing their combined wrath.” Silesti gave him a brief smile that would have looked more appropriate on an animal being led to slaughter. “I really have no choice, do I? Get your little hellion and make certain that you have a destination for us, that’s all I care.” The other sorcerer’s voice grew fatalistic. “If you don’t return by a reasonable time, I’ll do my best to see that I lead the mob that comes for you.”
Though Xiri was taken aback by the threat, Dru accepted it as normal. With time ever passing too quickly, he outlined the basics of what he had in mind concerning the second cross-over, only vaguely making references to the guardian who had aided him. Dru hoped he himself understood what he was doing. The guardian had said that he was to lead them to the shrouded realm, but had never actually said that the rift the sorcerer had fallen through was the correct path or that there might be some other way altogether. The magical creature had inferred a few things, but…
With an effort born of anger, Dru ousted the worries and the second thoughts from his mind. He would defeat himself without aid from either Melenea or Rendel if he fell prey to his own fears.
Silesti nodded his understanding when Dru concluded. “I have it. Remarkable!” he added, his dark mood fading as he once more fell victim to the wonder of it all. “To think escape stood there waiting for us and we thought it was merely an aberration, a part of Nimth’s long dying! Why is it these others sought us out in the first place?”
Legends of the Dragonrealm, Vol. II Page 59