“ The Dragons are back.” Calvin went to start but found himself cut short with a wave of her hand. It seemed that demons were just as rude as the Arch Mage.
“I know all about Dragons .” The demon said as with a blink of the eye she transformed into a huge and powerful golden Dragon. That was the biggest threat of a demon in the shadow realm. They could pretend to be anything and they often used this possess the unwary, offering bargains or trades. They would often approach and pray on the more lustful, transforming themselves into beautiful women and offering up favors for a trip into the real world.
“I know you’re not a Dragon demon.” Calvin said struggling to fight the effects of the illusion spell. He found himself wanting to believe and that was a dangerous path to go down.
“I never said I was. That’s the thing with you humans, always thinking you know everything. It has been that way ever since the first of your lot crawled out of the caves and saw the sky. You thought you knew it all. You forgot us and thought you could handle the world alone, you forgot your mummy, your creator.” The demon said as it trawled Calvin’s mind seeking out any weakness it could use.
“You’re using the wrong illusion for that demon. Do not pretend you care for humans or that you gave birth to us.” Calvin said trying his hardest to fight the feelings washing over him. He had been an orphan. He hadn’t known his parents and he could sense the demon was trying to play to that side of his emotions.
“ Yes, of course, you all believe in these false gods that created everything. You don’t realize it was just another realm for a demon to play in. They grew bored of you and forgot about you. That is the truth of it.” The demon said and Calvin found himself wondering if it was true. After all he had seen the desert and forest here. They had seemed so real, it was not impossible that the real world did not exist but instead had been the creation of a twisted creatures mind.
“You try to lie to me demon, if that were true more demons would have come.” Calvin said finding his mind a wash with doubt but doing his best to fight it. The Arch Mage really must have lost his mind if he thought a creature like this would help matters if Dragons were really coming back.
“One demon cannot just waltz into the realm of another uninvited. But believe what you will. Mother knows best.”The demon said with an eerie smile. “I doubt you’re even female demon.” Calvin said finding himself able to feel the magic of the beast again. As long as he stayed focused on it he could sense the spell trying to wash over him.
“Maybe you’re smarter than most mortals, I might just let you live. If it so pleases me. Now I know why you’re here. Your little mind is as easy to read as a children’s book. You’re here to beg me to join you. To save your pathetic people and you would expect me to do this for nothing.”
“ I never asked for any of this.” Calvin said defiantly to the huge Dragon shaped demon in front of him. It was the first time Calvin had actually seen a Dragon. The first time anyone had since the end of the war when they all vanished. If what the demon was portraying was real then the beasts were far scarier than any illustration in any book of Neeska.
“ No true I suppose. You’re just a tool following orders. A hammer to hit a nail, but without my help your world is doomed. Would you pay any cost to save it? Would it be so bad if at the end of me saving your sad little world I got to enjoy it a little?” The demon asked shifting back into the women Calvin had seen to start with. She shot Calvin a beautiful smile below the purest eyes he had ever seen. Calvin found himself wanting to agree with the demon. To do anything for her, to please her, but he fought it off.
“I’m not falling for your trickery demon. By enjoy the world you mean kill people, or worse.” Calvin said as the demon changed forms once more this time into a swarm of wasps that buzzed around him. He could feel the demons anger.
“I personally don’t enjoy the killing part, but I suppose you mortals do often die when I peel your insides out through your pores.” The demon laughed from a hundred little mouths and it was a sound Calvin would be happy if he never heard again.
“ Forget it demon, send me home.” Calvin demanded knowing he could not return to the mortal realm now without the demons say so and he did not fancy an eternity in its company.
“ Do you seriously believe that to be a likely outcome? No I don’t think you’re that foolish. How about I make you an offer you’ll find fair. I grow tired of Dragons. The time of Dragons is long over and it would be fun to kill something new. Like in the old days, evil gods and lost kingdoms not just ash. It gets everywhere.” The demon said shifting back into the female form. The beast had realized this was the one Calvin found hardest to refuse. “You’ll be asked to save a certain item soon. If you promise to destroy it I’ll help you. I’ll give you the magic you so desperately need and then I’ll slip back here to play with my little fishy without even a goodbye. How does that sound?”
“Far too easy to me if I’m honest.” Calvin said. Demons were renowned for being less than honest. If the demon wanted this ‘item’ destroyed there was a reason behind it.
“Oh you really are a smart human aren’t you? Let’s just say that once this little task is done some fun we’ve been waiting for a long time will actually arrive. Wait, I recognize you? The orphanage, ah yes that fire was oh so fun. Well you don’t have a choice really little human. I had not realized it was that time already.” The demons said trying to make Calvin worry that he had already been possessed.
“ Do I have a choice?” Calvin asked but he never received his answer. Instead the white light blinded him a second time and he found himself crashing to the floor in the Arch Mages room blood oozing from his nose like an over excited slug. He didn’t know at the time but the demon had been waiting for a new chapter in history to start and Calvin was going to have his part to play.
Chapter three – a thirst for red Darcy Dean’s journey had been relatively easy, it had none of the wolf attacks or bandits of his dreams and the only danger was of water logging in the continual drizzle that had cursed them since they left the gates of Neeskmouth. The roads had been reasonably well maintained, far better than Darcy had expected with the war and crippled economy of the city. The cobbled roads broke off into dirt tracks not far from the city but these were kept clear of the shrubs and hedges that lined the edges of the grass lands. Gullies in the landscape of caravan wheels ran in an almost perfect curve over hills and farmland towards Briers Hill broken from view only at the crests of the hills and dales. Little fences marked the boarders of the sprawling fields that lay waiting for the finer weather. Bushes which showed a sign that they would soon start to sprout leafs marked out the fields and farms that they passed in their journey. The ride was fairly stable and the horses moved quickly from dawn to dusk. At night they had pulled off the road and made camp. The horses’ glad of the rest made short work of the shrubs that seemed to grow waist high all along the roadside. While they made camp the caravan was left unguarded. It was very plain looking, four small windows one in each side were surrounded by wooden arches that matched the rest of the decoration of the caravan. It was all painted white even the curved roof that did little to stop the rain seeping into the cabin itself. The wheels looked new compared to the weathered body, Darcy wondered why they would have replaced them for such a short journey as this. It occurred to Darcy that it looked more like a traveler’s caravan than an envoy from the king. He knew not to expect much with Neeskmouths finances the way they were but it would have been far too small for a trader let alone for a five man team and had probably been hired from a noble. The hooks pressed into the rear porch hinted at its normal use for hunting. The driver was the only one to sleep inside the caravan, Darcy and the three guards slept close by under cleverly made sheepskin tents. The outside was waterproof and the inside fluffy and warm. Darcy had brought a couple of fire sticks from his estate and they had made the camping trip quite enjoyable. It was something Darcy would have loved to have done with his father when he wa
s a boy but in his absence never did. The closest he had got was pulling his sheets over the cabinet in his bedroom, which he had got thoroughly chastised for when Granny had found the mess as she had called it. Just as the cold wind and rain had washed any remaining enjoyment out of camping and Darcy had heard about as many stories about the ‘one that got away’ as he could from the would-be poachers it seemed their journey was reaching its mid point. It was around noon on the third day when Briers Hill appeared on the horizon. Darcy had decided to sit up front today with the driver as for the first time in days you could see the sun and although it was still cold it was a pleasant day. There were still plenty of clouds in the sky, but they were white and fluffy not like the angry gray mass that had seemed to hang around since the centauries’ celebrations. It looked like the gods had finally convinced themselves that the smoke was cleared from the heavens. As Darcy looked out across the rolling rocky plains the town of Briers Hill seemed tiny in comparison to Neeskmouth and Darcy could barely believe how people could live in somewhere so small. They entered into town from the south-eastern road, one of four roads out of Briers Hill which was built around a cross road. Darcy had thought the town looked small from a distance compared the city he had always called home but as they left the countryside behind and settled back onto the cobbled lanes he could see for the first time just how small the town really was. It was made up of seven to ten small red and thatched houses which gathered around the well in its centre and a handful of shops on its western road. The most noticeable thing in the whole village was the huge blades of the windmill that sat above the bakers. The slow spinning of the blades fascinated Darcy and the small blue jay that kept hoping from one to the other showing signs of annoyance from its moving perch added to the strange charm of the village of Briers Hill. When the bird seemed to give in and fly off Darcy’s eyes were drawn back away from the windmill. Aside from the small houses and shops the only other building for miles was a tavern which the caravan stopped outside of. Unlike Neeskmouth that was made largely of slopped slate roofs Briers Hill was thatched. Most of the slate in Neeska came from the Dwarves of the Goldhorn Kingdom and the road from there led straight to Neeskmouth. Since the Dwarfs had sealed off their mountain years ago what little slate was left at Neeskmouth had been kept there so the people of Briers Hill had replaced the slate roofs with thatch from the fields around town. Although the countryside around Briers Hill was littered with rocky outcrops that stuck up through the brush the quality of local stone was poor. A sign of how far Briers Hill was from a decent supply of stone was that all the buildings had been made with clay. It was easy to see the timber frame below the red uneven and often flaking clay. A unique trait to the Briers Hill area, the sandstone and clay all held a natural reddish tint. The story goes that it was the blood of the warriors that had died in the Scorched Lands that had seeped into the clay as it was making its way to the sea but the truth was it had always been red. The area was very rich in iron and even some crops and plants had a slightly red tint to them because of it. It was the reason Raidaridin was built in the first place, a mine had been opened towards the west coast around a day and a halves travel from Briers Hill. The miners had started to head to the coast at Raidaridin to ship the ore back to Neeskmouth and over time a city grew around them. Before the Poles were known by their modern name, back when the Dragons kept them at bay they had been known as the Iron Giants as the high iron content in their diets had made them monstrously strong and tall compared to the average humans of Neeska. The tavern that the caravan had stopped outside was known as ‘The Dragons Blood Inn’ which was very appropriate for two reasons. Firstly the building was as red as every other building in the town apart from the huge white balcony that stuck out from its front like a Dragon’s mouth. The second reason was that the hops used to make its ale were grown locally, so the beer had a very metallic taste, similar to blood and a slightly red coloring. From the outside the inn looked extremely busy for such a small town. Darcy was no wizard at mathematics but with only eleven buildings in the town there could only realistically be seventy people in the town at a push and unless they were all in the small yet very packed inn then a lot of the guards from the fort up the road were frequenting the inn. Darcy suddenly felt very sick as he realized that he might be walking in to meet his father much sooner than he had expected. He struggled on with his fine fur satchel wishing Granny was around to help him strap it on. She had a knack for getting the brass clip not to snap back and crush her fingers which Darcy seemed to lack. Rubbing his swore fingers Darcy followed the guards into the inn nervously.
The inside of the Dragons Blood Inn was pretty much as he expected. You could just see dark wooden tables poking out under people’s arms or between standing legs. There was barely enough room to sidestep towards the bar as Darcy followed his guards. The guards nodded towards the innkeeper and then left Darcy to it. They suddenly seemed very interested in the barmaid, or more precisely the burgundy ale she was serving up. Darcy struggled on past a few more drunken elbows and clinking glasses and rowdy bearded faces, until he finally made it to the bar where an elderly man stood behind it looking angrily at the crowd of guards.
“You want a drink go see me daughter .” The old man snorted through a mess of rotten teeth as Darcy grew close. The smell almost knocked Darcy back a step. Or it would have if there was room to step backwards in the crowded bar.
“ I’m actually interested in a room for the night, or two to be precise.” Darcy said knowing it would come out of his own coffers but he’d already shared two nights of stories from some rather uncouth guards and wanted a room of his own.
“ Payment up front, twenty five coppers a room. Thirty if you want breakfast.” The old man grunted again sending another wave of stale ale smoke and what could have been kipper towards Darcy.
“That seems a little steep .” Darcy was used to the finer things in life but even he wouldn’t charge that for one of his rooms let alone some lice ridden bed in a place he felt it would be a miracle if he would sleep in with the noise. Granny had told him stories of common life and he had even seen a little of it as he’d made his trips to the docks in Neeskmouth but the realism of it was more than he had expected.
“ Aye, that it is but I need to make some money somehow and there isn’t another bed for sale for miles so take it or leave it.” The innkeeper finally looked at Darcy. “You don’t look like one of this lot. You might even pay your tab.” He laughed and his moustache wiggled like a fox wagging its tale. “Tell you what, you tell me what you’re doing here and I’ll do you a deal. Fifty all in for the two plus breakfast and I’ll start you a tab for your friends drinks over there.” The old bar keep pointed towards Darcy’s guards who were already on their second flagon.
“ They aren’t my friends. I am just travelling with them.” Darcy said feeling the need to separate himself from the cackling beer swilling guards. “Why would you want to know?” Darcy asked wondering. It was probably paranoia but he suddenly suspected this was some kind of test from the king. He knew it was probably nothing but with so many nobles going missing lately maybe they had let slip about the kings plan.
“ Just you’re not the first person coming in from the direction of Neeskmouth in the last few months. Are you off to the Scorched Lands to?” The innkeeper asked with seemingly no malice or hidden agenda. It was commonly known that innkeepers knew more gossip from the lands than the kings own advisors and this was probably more of the same, drunken nosiness.
“ No we’re off to see the mages, private business. I hope you understand.” Darcy said and he paused. Who were these men that went off to the Scorched Lands, was this mission really as straight forward as Harvey had made it out to be. The envelope inside his jerkin suddenly grew heavy and Darcy felt an urge to open it and see exactly what the king had written to the Arch Mage. He knew he couldn’t. If word got back to the king that the wax seal had been broken then Darcy’s little indiscretion with the White Flags might not g
o away.
“These men you mentioned, do you know who they were?” Darcy asked trying to cover his tracks and find out more of the kings true intentions at the same time.
“ I don’t know much lad. Just a few new faces coming into town that were not just soldiers for the fort, I asked them just like I did you. What they were up to and they said they were off to the Scorched Lands. Crazy bastards if you ask me, there knout there but ash and death.” The innkeeper said and even Darcy with his lack of people skills could tell he wanted to break into a story but Darcy did not have time to listen to some drunken story about Dragons, it had been bad enough having to listen to Harvey’s retelling of the tale.
“ Did any of them say what they were after?” Darcy said ignoring the signs and breaking the innkeepers’ chance at starting whatever tale it was he had planned. Darcy could see the red faced man look of
disappointment but he didn’t have time for it.
“ No they wouldn’t say, well one did say something after a few too many Dragon blood ales.” The old bar keeper laughed and Darcy had to fight the urge to faint from the bellow of stench that poured from his mouth. It seemed the hygiene of the city had not made it out as far as this village.
Dragons Blight (Valadfar Book 1) Page 6