“Ah, Young Darcy welcome to you.” Harvey said when he finally realized he was not alone in the room. He sent a rather weak smile Darcy’s direction before turning back to his obsession, the table. After another ten or more uncomfortable seconds of Harvey just staring blankly at the table he suddenly remembered Darcy was there and continued. “Come closer and tell me what you see here?” Harvey asked pointing towards an area to the far south of Northern Neeska, the Scorched Lands, or in this case the small and poorly painted table top version them at any rate. The area in question was a point on the board where it still had a faded green paint to simulate the hills and mountains, unlike the real world which now lay in ruin. The Scorched Land had once been part of the Handson kingdom back before even the time of the Dragons, it had once held several villages and a lot of Neeska’s farmlands but that was before the war with the Dragons. Now the once green and fertile land which had taken the name of the Scorched Lands looked like hell itself. The ground was black with ash and scorched bone, both humanoid and draconian. The stone houses and towns that had survived the blazes remained empty a cold a ghostly scene. A few of the large trees had not been completely turned to ash and instead stood out as singed stubs which bony fingers that clawed at the sky. No plant seemed to want to grow within the shifting clouds of ash and even the birds flew around it hundreds of miles away from their migration routes rather than risk the chocking black clouds of ash. Only a handful of crazed adventures or outlaws dared to try to call the place home and none ever heard from those who walked too deep into its ashen landscape again. The Scorched Lands split the very continent in two very distinct halves and the map on the table showed a time that none alive remembered. A time before the breeze that blew from the south carried the stench of death. Because of its greenery it took a naive Darcy a moment to recognize the land. He’d never left the city and only seen it on maps in his down time within the library. This looked very different.
“ That’s the Scorched Lands I think. Why do you ask?” Darcy asked as he moved closer to Harvey. Darcy was a little taken aback by the strange question. He had no idea what this had to do with him unless the Poles made a move into those lands, maybe the king planned for him to follow in his father’s footsteps and set up a fort holding them in a stalemate there. Darcy sighed inside. Well it was better than the gallows but barely.
“ Why do I ask?” Harvey said looking up at Darcy as if it should have made perfect sense. Harvey Handson was a history buff. When he wasn’t sending men to their needless deaths in a battle they could never win to reclaim Raidaridin then he was studying the history of his ancestors. The Handson’s had been the ones who started the rebellion against the Dragons rule and sparked the eight hundred year war, that was exactly what Harvey was talking about. “What do you know about the last Dragon that fell?” Harvey asked as he playfully pushed a figure from Neeskmouth towards the middle of the map. Darcy was surprised he had not noticed it before. The sculpture was very out of place on the board. It was an elegant stone statue about the size of a fist that depicted a Dragon in flight. The flat and misshapen back showed that it had probably belonged on a wall or maybe even one of the pillars from inside the throne room before it was broken off.
“Not all that much your majesty. I was never really a history enthusiast.” Darcy said fixated on the Dragon. “It seems to depend which book you read as to what really happened. Half of it is badly remembered and the other half is fantasy I am sure.” Darcy paused as he watched Harvey prodding the sculpture with his finger rocking it back and forth. When the King gave no reply the pressure grew too much for Darcy to cope with. “Sire, I must ask, what does this have to do with me anyway?”
“ Why in such a rush to get to that point Darcy, anyone would think you did not feel comfortable in the presence of your King.” Harvey said looking away from the table and at Darcy with a smile that oozed with confidence. If the conversation had been a poker match Harvey would have had a handful of aces. “We’ll get to your part in this in just a moment Darcy. For now I’ll tell you a little story. That is unless you have to be elsewhere maybe?” Harvey asked but Darcy could sense the question was not expecting an answer. It seemed he was right when as almost without taking breath Harvey carried on talking. “No quite as I thought, do remember you’re only busy by my say so.” Harvey said as he adjusted the rim of his hat. Darcy, as uneasy as he felt, took some solace in how ridiculous that hat really was. It was stupidly big and surrounded by white down feathers. It looked as if one of the seagulls from the dock had decided to set up nest on the red peak that was Harvey’s head. Fruit and seagulls, if Harvey had even suspected what was going through Darcy’s mind he’d had ended up in the dungeon for sure, or worse. Completely unaware of the distain his guest felt for his taste in clothes Harvey carried on his monologue. “Out of all of the different accounts of the Great War the story I like the best is the one which says that when the last Dragon fell he knew that the reign of the Dragon lords ended with him. He was after all the biggest and strongest of their brood.” Darcy wondered if Harvey actually saw himself in the same light as this all powerful Dragon lord. The way he had said it seemed so, biggest maybe, Darcy thought to himself growing more and more disillusioned with Harvey. Still unaware of the belittling his nervous guest was using within his own mind Harvey continued telling his story, his hand never leaving the white stone of the miniature Dragon. “You realize Darcy that he had once occupied this very castle until he was forced out by my family.” Harvey said sidetracking a little from his story. “ We pushed them back to the mountains, thousands died but because of my ancestors the Dragons lordship was finally ending and when the ballista’s begun dropping Dragons out of the sky like leafs the last Dragon summoned up all the power he could. He literally sucked the magic out of the mages fighting him.” Harvey continued pushing the small stone fragment around the board fighting imaginary people on the board below. Darcy could not help but notice obsession in the Kings eyes. This was a battle that had happened sixty five years before the king was even born, but in that moment Darcy was sure Harvey thought that little board was the battlefield from a century ago. Darcy wondered if the king had finally snapped. Rumors’ were ripe among the nobles that the stress had finally pushed him over the edge but all this Dragon talk confirmed it. Harvey had been waging war with every other Kingdom since he was old enough to lead and now seemed to want to start a war with the Dragons that had all died over a hundred years before. As if unaware of the questioning eyes on him Harvey continued his tale. “When the mages power failed the sky itself turned red with ashes and forced the power deep down inside the beast. The bards say that the Dragon king shone a hot white like steel on a smith’s anvil. He had planned to crash into the earth and release this power all at once shattering the whole continent into nothing more than sand to wash up on distant shores.” Harvey said smashing the stone figure onto the board denting the wood with an almighty thud that sent Darcy stepping back in shock. After yet another dramatic pause from the would-be bard king he continued. “If the Dragon lords couldn’t have the land, then no one could.” King Harvey started and you could see excitement down behind his tired eyes. Darcy was not sure what scared him more, the king seemingly trying to re-live a moment like this from the past. That or Harvey seeing himself the same as a Dragon, would the king really destroy Neeska rather than admit the Poles had won. Darcy actually almost wished he had been called in for the White Flag tax. At least he knew how that would end. This story, the passion in the king’s cold eyes scared Darcy. He half expected him to leap from a window and try and take flight or tell Darcy that the city was about to be set blaze to. Harvey now cupped the Dragon stature in both hands and bend down over it, as if he could see something in it that Darcy could not. “It would have worked to but as the Dragon begun to dive towards the ground the Arch Mage cast a spell so powerful that cost him his own life. From the very peak of the mages tower he sacrificed himself to freeze the Dragon solid. Its body crashed into th
e floor and turned to a frosty powder. Nothing remained of it. There was no trace of the beast in the ruins of the battlefield.” Harvey said and finally let go of the Dragon and turning to face Darcy now that the battle was over he seemed more present. He was actually aware of the room around him. “Do you understand magic Darcy?” Harvey asked.
“No sire and I still don’t see what this has to do with me. I am no mage.” Darcy said trying not to be rude, for risk of his neck, but desperate to either get answers or get out of what started as an uncomfortable meeting and had been rapidly getting worse.
“ Magic uses power; it takes energy, practice and strength. It is no different to muscle. If you over stretch yourself you need to rest. Some say the Arch Mage had made a deal with demons for us to win the war. That was the only way a mortal could summon that kind of power. It took the power of a demon pouring through the mage to freeze the Dragon and that was why the mage died.” Harvey said getting out of breath. The excitement too much for his keg shaped body. Darcy thought Harvey might stop but he didn’t. Instead Harvey collected a second small figure from the middle of the map, this time a little tin painted human from the area around the Mages tower and pushed it towards the Scorched Lands. Struggling for breath Harvey continued with sweat forming on his forehead. “Anyway that’s all things you can read in a history book. I’m sure your library is full of them with what I pay your family.” Harvey said this time not bothering to look around. There was that dig again, Darcy knew the king well enough to know this conversation was coming to a close. When Harvey begun using threats you knew it was nearly the point in time that he asked you politely what it was that he wanted you to do.
“ What they don’t tell you is that the Dragons’ heart didn’t lose its power. The magic the Dragon summoned was too strong to dissipate and when the beast crashed into the ashen ground and shattered the heart was freed. It’s buried, lost in the Scorched Lands and is still there somewhere. The mages knew this but they kept it secret. After all it could still destroy whole regions of Neeska in the wrong hands.” Harvey said and Darcy couldn’t help but think that those wrong hands were most likely Harvey’s. “So they left it. They destroyed all records of it surviving. Well most of them. You see the King at the time, my great grandfather kept a diary of his own. So I know it’s still there.” Harvey said pressing a hand against his rotund chest. For a moment Darcy thought the excitement had become too much and Harvey was actually going to keel over, that was until he noticed the outline of what looked to be a book under Harvey’s fleece. Harvey and his father had sold off most of the Kingdom in their two reigns to pay for the ongoing war. Whatever it was that was in that book must have been worth a fortune in sentimental value or it would have been traded long before. Taking his hand away from the hidden pages Harvey carried on with his sermon “At the time it would have been a bad thing to fall into anyone’s hands but I think now is as good a time as any to get it, before all the magic leaks from it that is. Although it was too strong to disperse it will have weakened over time I’m guessing.” Harvey paused and looked at Darcy expectantly.
“ I’m sorry your majesty but I still don’t see what this has to do with me. I thought you had called me here about the Cassandra.” Darcy said no longer caring why he was summoned but still not wanting to mention the White Flags needlessly. Harvey seemed unhinged as it was.
“ The Cassandra,” Harvey said wrinkling his fat forehead. “Oh your fathers’ ship, yes well I suppose that will be used in this slightly. As you know we are at war with the Poles and have been for some time.” Harvey walked towards
Darcy and leant in close. Darcy tried to pull back away from the smell of gingivitis but Harvey leant in further. Darcy could feel the fat mans belly pressing against him and wondered if there was any way he could feel any more uncomfortable. He hazarded a guess he would feel less worried wearing a dress on a long sea voyage with a crew of nymphomaniacs. “What I tell you now Darcy cannot leave the throne room. I will hold you to this under penance of death.” Harvey said. He coughed and waved a hand towards the exit, the two burly guards by the entrance hall took their leave. Darcy suddenly felt very alone. Yes, he would definitely feel a lot safer on the before mentioned ship.
“ Your majesty you’re scaring me.” Darcy said. The hangman’s noose would probably be the easiest thing to come out of this meeting. Darcy had heard rumors trickle through the noble district that the king had been asking nobles to do strange things as of late and that many of them never returned or those that did often were found dead in their beds a few nights after returning to the city. Whatever the king wanted from Darcy he knew he had no choice, saying no would be suicide.
“The coffers are empty Darcy, we’re spent. The city barely has the funds to hold Briers Hill for another month. If that falls then it will only be a matter of weeks before the Poles fall against our city and how long do you think we can hold out against them? The city was not built for war. We do not have walls around the city and those around the keep are damn near falling over without the need of cannon fire, we do not have the people stationed here to hold them back. The Poles would march straight into the throne room.” Harvey dramatically knocked the soldier pieces over that were placed on Neeskmouth. “So Darcy you see we cannot hold out. I am not daft. I know the people are sick of war. They have lost respect for what my family did for them. Once a few weeks pay doesn’t reach the soldiers at Briers Hill most will turncoat and join the Poles.”
“My father would never.” Darcy started but was cut short. It seemed Harvey was in no mood to listen. “We need the Dragons Heart. With it we can push the Poles back and reclaim Raidaridin and the mines close to it. Not to mention the trade possibilities’ with no leader and no city, the un-united barbarians would crumble and we can reunite trade with them. It is our only hope to bring gold back into the coffers.” Harvey said whispering the words so unwelcome ears in the corridor outside the throne room could not hear them.
“ I still don’t understand what this has to do with me? My father is the knight not I and I know nothing of archaeology so what use would I be finding the heart?” Darcy asked. He could understand the heart might turn the tide of battle. The power could be used to destroy some of the Pole army but why Harvey had called him in was a mystery still.
“ I need someone I can trust to travel to the Mages tower. We’ll need their magic to find the Heart. The Scorched Lands are around sixty miles squared. Just hunting blind would take years and we’re pushed to have weeks, a month at most.” Harvey paused and wiped sweat from his forehead. “If I am honest young master Dean. You were not my first choice but times have grown dire indeed. I doubt you will be back before word gets out that the city is bankrupt so I will need something to offer the people. I would normally summon your father but he is the only man I trust to hold out at Briers Hill and by time he got here it may be too late.” Harvey paused looking back to the board. “Unlike the rest of those dogs he won’t just swop sides because the coin stops and hopefully enough men are loyal to him that it will buy us extra time.” Harvey backed away from Darcy and leant against a nearby window. “ Your ships we will be claimed to launch a lasting attack against Raidaridin to keep the Poles busy. Hopefully it will buy you more time while you travel to the mages tower. With any luck the Poles will pull some of their men back from Briers Hill to defend Raidaridin meaning that there would be fewer battles at Briers Hill. That should mean longer for your fathers’ men to hold out.”
Dragons Blight (Valadfar Book 1) Page 3