“King D’Vaire, I fear I have news most foul. The Emperors have perished.”
Aleksander’s strange eyes went wide and his face grew pale. “Perished, Your Grace?”
“Most unfortunate, is it not? Of course, it is all your fault.”
“My fault?”
“Anyone can see you are cursed and you have brought a frightful wind of death with you. Pack up your belongings and gather your followers. I have found a small demesne for you. You will go there tonight and steer clear of all other dragons. Do you understand?”
With his head bowed Aleksander nodded. “I do. We will leave posthaste.”
The door closed and Bernal turned to his boy. “We have accomplished a great deal tonight, have we not?”
Zane wore a confused look but he smiled. “Mayhap.”
“I feel a need to celebrate. Shall we go to the kitchens and stuff our bellies?”
Nodding enthusiastically, Bernal took his son’s hand and headed off to raise a glass to revel in the results of his plot. It had worked out most splendidly.
Chapter 22
“What do you mean you will not allow us entrance? We have arranged a meeting with your leaders,” Killian the Dwyer said indignantly.
“No one gets in,” the guardsman stated.
“Emperor Drystan and Emperor Conley are expecting us,” Arch Lich Chander Daray announced. He was growing annoyed at the delay.
“Castle Draconis is in mourning. No one enters.”
“Mourning? Who has died?” Arch Wizard Egidius asked. Chander knew none of them were willing to wait while the castle mourned some ancient dragon who had probably gone to bed last night and failed to awaken this morning. They had business to attend to and a Council to see defended.
“Now why would I be telling you that?”
“Enough of this nonsense,” Chander declared as he flung out his hand. He began chanting loud enough that whoever was at the gates would hear him but the words were nonsense. This magick only required the power of his mind but it would add to the fear he wanted to place into the heedless fool in charge of the castle gate. Within mere moments the sky was awash with clouds black as night and the sun appeared to drip red in blood. The Arch Lich raised his voice and recited the words louder as the clouds blocked out even the weakest hint of daylight and the ground became wet with scarlet rain.
“It was the Emperors themselves. Emperor Drystan and Emperor Conley are dead!” the guardsman shrieked over the howling wind. With a flick of his wrist Chander ended his show and then the man’s words began to penetrate.
“What?” Magus Superus Jurdann, the ruler of the mages, yelled loud enough to cause Chander to jump in fright.
“Humans broke into the castle and cut them down in their bedchamber while they slept,” the guardsman confessed.
“Lower this gate. We must pay our respects. Let us in at once,” Chander demanded and to his surprise, the guards obeyed his command.
“What is the point of entering the castle? The emperors are of no use to us now. We will have to wait until Fate selects a new dragon ruler,” Arch Wizard Egidius asked.
“We shall see about that,” Chander replied as a plan began to form in his mind.
It was not long before they were shown into the Great Hall and offered a small repast.
“Welcome to Court Draconis. I am Imperial Duke Bernal Draconis.”
“Our condolences on the loss of your emperors,” Chander offered to the tall man with the shrewd black eyes.
“I would not linger here. I fear we are all cursed,” the duke said.
“Cursed?” Killian the Dwyer asked.
“Yes, a young dragon arrived yesterday with a most unusual appearance. It has brought a blight upon this place.”
Killian the Dwyer looked skeptical. “You believe this dragon had something do with the death of your leaders?”
“Not in deed. It was humans who ended their lives but without the dragon’s arrival, I doubt the humans would have managed the feat.”
“Nonsense. There is no such thing as a curse,” Chander insisted.
“Believe what you will, but I would not linger here,” the duke stated before he left them alone.
“I do think that man was trying to threaten us,” Magus Superus Jurdann observed.
“Dragon or not, I could crumble this castle at his feet should he try anything untoward,” Chander replied.
“Do not allow your overconfidence to sway your senses,” Arch Wizard Egidius said.
Chander was well used to being talked to as if he were a child. He’d been chosen by Fate to rule over necromancers at birth and was the first Fate-born leader of the Order of Necromancia. Since he was but seventeen, he had a throng of elders choking his power and making his decisions for him. He did not need to listen to lectures from a haughty wizard. “As you say, Arch Wizard. Now, let us journey to the living quarters up the stairs and locate the emperors.”
“Have you taken leave of your senses?” Magus Superus Jurdann asked. “The emperors are dead.”
“That does not mean they’re of no use to us,” Chander proclaimed as he headed out of the Great Hall with the other three sorcerers in his wake. Unbeknownst to them, his sentinel Baxter was accompanying them though he was not visible.
“I do hate to repeat myself but I do not comprehend what use you think two dead men are going to be to us.”
“And what use are they to these fools? They believe a man with strange scales is cursed and two emperors are killed in a castle full of dragons by humans in the dead of night while the castle gate is locked.” Chander had found a set of stairs and was steadily leading the way up.
“You think the castle to be full of treasonous guards?” Killian the Dwyer asked.
“You are thinking the same,” Chander replied. “We need men to see to our defense. This Council has already agreed Emperor Drystan and Emperor Conley are those men.”
“You cannot mean—”
“I say we use the magick Fate was kind enough to grant us to allow these men to see that we do not find ourselves as dead as the warlocks,” Chander said.
* * *
Several hours later, the four sorcerers and the now obvious sentinel were standing in the Arch Wizard Egidius’s castle staring at the bodies of Emperor Drystan and Emperor Conley. Inside Castle Draconis, they had been laid out on their bed and Killian the Dwyer had cast a teleportation circle that had allowed their entire group to travel to their current spot. Killian had used a healing spell to rid them of their wounds so no scars would be visible after their resurrection.
“I do not think it best to have them both serve us together to start,” Chander said.
“You are referring to the stories of the first necromancers?” Magus Superus Jurdann asked.
“I am not familiar with the stories,” Killian the Dwyer replied.
“The first necromancer was a sorcerer who had not blood-bonded with his mate and sought to resurrect him. He toiled away and one day he managed the feat. They lived a long, happy life together and necromancy was born. The first to call himself a necromancer wanted to test his craft and sought a soul who cried out for vengeance. Such a warrior, he thought, would serve him well. Only he did not. He thought of nothing but avenging his own lost love. He was quite bloodthirsty and cut down anyone in his path. The necromancer was forced to send the man to his second death to spare more innocent lives being taken,” Chander explained.
“If they are resurrected together they will wish to share blood. I fear when they do their memories will be returned to them. They may care for nothing but seeing those humans and foul dragons pay for their deeds,” Arch Wizard Egidius stated.
Killian the Dwyer’s eyes, an earthy mix of brown and green, were filled with doubt. “Do we know for sure their memories will be returned?”
“We do not, but it is too big a risk to gamble upon,” Chander replied.
“It is the dark dragons who are said to be more powerful, is it not? We shall res
urrect Emperor Drystan,” Magus Superus Jurdann decided.
“What of his mate? We cannot separate them,” Killian the Dwyer insisted.
“There is no reason we cannot resurrect them both and seal the other in stasis for a time,” Magus Superus Jurdann stated.
Killian the Dwyer crossed his arms over his chest. “How long do you think? I should not wish to be separated from my mate whenever I find him.”
“I would think one hundred years would be plenty to allow the flames of vengeance to burn out,” Chander proposed.
“And what of Emperor Conley for that century? Where shall he rest? We would not wish for him to be disturbed,” Arch Wizard Egidius said.
“No, I will create a box for him to lie in. Only I will be able to open it. It will keep him from being harmed,” Chander promised.
“Most unwise, Arch Lich. When your elders find out what we have done here they may have other ideas for your box housing Emperor Conley,” the wizard replied.
“Have you another idea?” Chander asked.
“I will hold on to his body until the time is right.”
“I suggest a compromise. Chander will house Emperor Conley in a box only he may open but it shall stay with Egidius until a century has passed,” Killian the Dwyer suggested.
“That is fair,” Jurdann said, and Chander knew there was no way to argue the point now with half the Council already decided.
Chander nodded. “I will agree.”
“As will I,” Egidius replied.
“Shall we get to work, then?” Chander asked.
“How will Emperor Drystan defend us as a single dragon?” Jurdann asked.
“I fear he will not be a dragon. I do not have any idea how to accomplish such a feat. He will be undead, something along the lines of a sentinel but meant to oversee many people instead of an assassin tied to a single necromancer,” Chander said.
“One man to protect and look after all of magickind?” Killian the Dwyer asked.
“Of course not; we shall give him an army,” Chander replied.
“Will the dragons not realize the leader of our army is their fallen emperor?”
“We have few ties to the dragons, we shall simply cut off all communication. They were ready to be rid of us in any event,” Chander declared before he flexed his knuckles and the sorcerers gathered into a circle to begin their work. Gathering the great wealth of power he had at his disposal, he embarked upon the task of resurrecting Emperor Drystan and Emperor Conley.
* * *
In the year 1369, the Order of the Fallen Knights was created with the rebirth of Emperor Drystan Draconis as Reverent Knight Drystan Kempe. Immediately after the Reverent Knight’s resurrection, he was gifted with two lieutenants: Venerable Knight Vann Ruarc and Venerable Knight Roman Calixtus. An army of fallen knights was eventually summoned from beyond to serve as peacekeepers, enforcers of laws, and defense. With their help, the Council of Sorcery flourished for the next several hundred years. They cut off all ties with shifters until under mysterious circumstances, Arch Lich Chander Daray gifted his role as leader to Emperor Chrysander Draconis, the new leader of the dragons, and it was renamed the Council of Sorcery and Shifters.
Reverent Knight Conley Gylde was entombed in a large skull-covered box that could only be opened with the magic of Arch Lich Chander Daray and locked in the basement of the Arch Wizard Egidius’s castle, where he still rests today.
PART II
RESURRECTION
Chapter 23
Arch Lich Chander Daray contemplated his surroundings as he stood with his sentinel Benton and a few members of the Draconis Court of D’Vaire. They were at a remote estate having just performed a rescue mission and ending the life of a particularly nasty warlock named Latarian. Now they were busy tidying up loose ends and Chander was considering more than just cleaning up Latarian’s mess.
“Since you have no problem with the house being destroyed, I’ll cast a spell strong enough to incinerate everything. All of you should head back to D’Vaire. I’ll call Vadimas to come and pick up Idris,” Chander stated, referring to Prism Wizard Vadimas Porfyra, who led the Spectra Wizardry.
“Your spell will only take a minute or two; we can wait and return together,” King Aleksander D’Vairedraconis said.
“Idris may not want to see his house annihilated,” Renny, the Grand Warlock’s familiar, said. “I can take him back and then you guys can follow.”
“There’s no need for any of you to wait for Benton and me,” Chander began. “Since I’m here, there is a task I need to complete. One that is long overdue.”
“We can help,” Grand Warlock Dra’Kaedan D’Vaire offered.
“No need, but thanks for the offer. Just get our friend Idris to that wizard school,” Chander said with a small smile.
With plenty of perplexed looks in his general direction, Chander watched as Dra’Kaedan cast the spell to teleport his family out of Europe and back to their home in Arizona. There was no way Chander was willing to divulge his plans to them. However, Benton was not going to let him off the hook so easily.
“What exactly do you have planned?” Benton asked as if he was reading Chander’s mind.
“Ben, what is the one thing I left behind when we moved the Council to North America?”
Benton turned and looked down into Chander’s eyes. “Please tell me you aren’t thinking about going to the Consilium Veneficus. I really don’t want to spend all day killing a bunch of asshole wizards.”
“Not the Consilium exactly, we only need to visit a single wizard.”
“Except the one you need is dead,” Benton stated as he folded his arms over his chest.
“Arch Wizard Egidius may be dead, but he still has something that belongs to me. Or more accurately, to our Reverent Knight,” Chander replied.
“He’s kept Conley’s body from you for centuries; what makes you think you can convince any of these wizards to hand him over? Do you even know which one has him?”
“Egidius has a son, Jael. You know that; I’ve contacted him since the Arch Wizard died.”
“I also know he told you he wasn’t willing to hand over Conley’s box.”
“He didn’t call it Conley’s box. No one can get into it but me, and I doubt Egidius told him what was in it. Jael just knows I want it, so he is trying to play some game with me. I’m over it,” Chander said. “I was a stupid kid who had no business separating Drystan from his mate. I had no idea Egidius was such a shithead and would refuse to give me Conley after a century passed.”
“Stop blaming yourself. You only did what you thought was right for the Council. You tried to fix it.”
“Yeah, I agreed to leave Europe and cede control of the Council to Egidius. The damn necro elders went behind my back and gave the Council to Chrys,” Chander responded, referring to the leader of the dragons, Emperor Chrysander Draconis.
“Pretty shitty to sign your name to the letter they gave to Chrys. It worked out well though; look at where the Council is today.”
“I know, it turned out to be a great decision. But it gave Egidius more reason to hate me, which meant he had more motivation to keep me from giving Drystan back his mate.”
“So now we even the scale and get him back?” Benton asked.
“Not exactly evening the scale since I can’t give Drystan and Conley back the nearly six and a half centuries they lost, but at least I can offer them a future.”
“All right. Drystan’s my friend too. Let’s destroy this shithole and go kick some wizard ass.”
“Thanks. You do realize, if you hadn’t agreed I would have just summoned Baxter, right?” Chander asked with a grin.
“I still don’t get why you have two sentinels. You certainly don’t need a crappy-ass one like Baxter.”
“You’ve literally never met him. And for the record, he doesn’t like you either.”
“Whatever, are you going to blow this place up or what?”
Chander continued to smile
as he gathered his power and cast a spell that obliterated the entire Vioric family home. It took seconds, and he ensured it didn’t make a sound. The last thing he wanted was for anyone nearby to come and investigate.
“Do you remember where Egidius lived?” Chander asked his sentinel.
“Yeah, big ugly castle.”
“Exactly, meet me there?”
“I’ll go first,” Benton said before he dematerialized.
Chander closed his eyes and teleported himself to just outside the fortress Egidius had called home before his mysterious death a few years before. The structure had been modernized since Chander had been here last, he noted before Benton rapped his fist on the gigantic wooden doors.
One opened to reveal a man dressed in a suit. “Good afternoon, how may I assist you today?”
“I am Arch Lich Chander Daray. I want to see Jael.”
“Mr. Daray, do you have an appointment?”
“First, he’s the Arch Lich, and he didn’t give you leave to drop his title. Second, tell Jael we’re here,” Benton demanded.
“And who might you be?” the man, who Chander surmised was a butler, asked.
“I’m the Arch Lich’s sentinel. You must have heard of sentinels? We are said to be good at one thing: killing at the will of our necromancer. You might not want to piss off the Arch Lich,” Benton declared as he pushed his cloak back slightly so his glowing green daggers were more visible. “I’m particularly good at what I do.”
The butler swallowed audibly before saying, “I’ll inform Mr. Giles of your desire to speak with him.”
“See that you do,” Benton said with a demonic grin.
“I think you scared him shitless,” Chander remarked after the man closed the door.
“Well, I can tell you this: the man has shit for manners. He didn’t even invite us in.”
Chander shook his head at his crazy sentinel. A few minutes later, the man reappeared and invited them inside. “If you’ll follow me, Mr. Giles is in his office.”
“We would be happy to,” Chander replied. They did as the man asked and walked down a wide hallway to a tall wooden door. He knocked and they were escorted into the large room. It was ornate with antique furniture and from behind a large desk, Jael Giles got to his feet and thrust out his hand. Chander shook it and Benton gave Jael a nod before Jael dismissed the butler.
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