“Home sweet home,” Yepert said, his voice full of relief. He didn’t enjoy flying. Umbaroth lowered himself to the ground so that Luxon, Yepert and Kaiden could dismount with ease.
“Looks like we’ve drawn quite a crowd,” Kaiden muttered.
Thousands of people packed the plaza, all eyes on the dragon. Despite the sheer number of people, the place was strangely quiet. Luxon picked up Dragasdol and leapt from the dragon’s back. Unlike Kaiden and Yepert, who would have to climb off Umbaroth’s back, Luxon used his magic to levitate gently to the ground. As his feet touched the surface, the crowd cheered. The sound was almost deafening. Luxon stared at the rapturous crowds in surprise. Were they cheering him? His confusion was quickly cleared when the crowd began to chant his name.
“Luxon! Luxon! Luxon!”
He felt himself flush red in embarrassment. Why were they cheering him? He shook those questions out of his mind as he spotted Grand Master Thanos approaching.
“Thank the gods you’re safe and well, Luxon,” Thanos greeted warmly. Luxon regarded his mentor for a moment. How could he have kept his true identity from me like that? he thought.
“It was a close run thing for a while. We have a lot to talk about,” Luxon replied.
Behind them, Yepert and Kaiden had dismounted from Umbaroth’s back. A small boy emerged from the crowd and approached the dragon. In his hands, he carried a sackful of meat from the market. More people approached, each carrying their gifts for the dragon.
“Umbaroth is something of a celebrity in the city. As are you, Luxon,” Thanos explained as they watched. Umbaroth lowered his huge head to the ground to get a closer look at the awestruck people. An annoyed cough sounded, and Luxon and Thanos turned to see the other masters standing behind them. They looked far from impressed.
“Causing such a commotion is beneath you, Luxon,” Master Dufran remarked irritably.
“Come now, Dufran; it is good for the people to know that Luxon is alive and well,” Thanos rebutted. “Riding in on such a magnificent beast will do wonders for morale. Something that is desperately needed.”
Luxon could sense the tension between the two men. It looked as though Dufran would say something in reply, but he thought better of it. Instead, the mage bowed and walked away, disappearing back into the crowd.
“Tensions have been high in the city,” Thanos told Luxon. “There have been disagreements as to how we should respond to what is happening in the world. Mages like Dufran are opposed to allowing more refugees into our lands. He believes that we should remain neutral, but alas – Ferran has forced our hand.”
“Oh?” Luxon asked.
“Come. Let us talk,” Thanos said as he led the way out of the Plaza.
Luxon glanced back. Yepert and Kaiden were following close behind. Each of the men had a travel pack attached to their backs. Umbaroth, meanwhile, was contentedly eating the food that the crowds were bringing to him, and talking with the curious citizens. Most people in Delfinnia had never seen a dragon before.
As they walked, Luxon noticed that the men and women in the crowd were watching him and talking about him in hushed tones. Some looked at him with reverence, others with hope. He’d experienced something similar when he had last been in the city, and it had unnerved him. Welsly had explained that the people regarded Luxon as a saviour figure. It was an extra pressure that he felt he could do without.
After leaving the plaza, they headed towards the Arch Tower. The structure never failed to impress. It was the tallest in Delfinnia, dwarfing the King’s Spire in Sunguard by a considerable amount. Whereas the Spire had been built by manpower alone, the crystal Tower had been grown using magic. Located at the base of the Tower were the city’s various magic schools. Students both young and old milled about the courtyard. Many stopped and pointed at the Grand Master and his companions. To them, Luxon was something of a legend and role model. A few of them called his name and waved to him. Luxon waved back; he had studied with many of them.
As they approached the tall doors that led inside the Arch Tower, an excited cry came from behind them. Luxon turned to see Hannah running towards him. At seeing, her all thoughts of woe left him. He sprinted to her. They ran into each other’s arm in the centre of the courtyard. He lifted her up from the ground and laughed, before kissing her deeply.
“I never gave up hope. Never …” Hannah said. She held his head in her hands and stared into Luxon’s eyes. “Are you well? Are you cured of the Void sickness?”
Luxon nodded. He took her hands in his.
“I am both of those things. I’m so glad you’re safe and … I’m sorry. I must have scared you.”
“There is nothing to forgive. I’m so happy you’re here!” Hannah laughed.
Thanos coughed to interrupt the reunion. “You can catch up properly later. Hannah, would you kindly gather the others and then meet us in my chambers.”
“Of course, master,” Hannah replied. She bowed slightly and threw a mischievous smile at Luxon, before turning and running off to find Ferran and Sophia.
*
Yepert stood at the back of the room, his hands gripping the edge of the hardwood table in front of him. The others had their attention fixed on the large cloth map of the kingdom on the far wall of Thanos’s chamber. For over an hour, Thanos, Luxon and Kaiden had gotten everyone up to date with the situation in the kingdom.
Will he ever shut up? the voice in Yepert’s head snapped. Kaiden was describing the reforming the Knights of Niveren and the dragon problem in the east.
If someone had paid Yepert closer attention, they would notice the sheen of sweat on his forehead and the trembling of his limbs. If they could hear what he did, then they would lock him away or worse. The voice of Danon never ceased. Constantly it taunted him, depriving him of any peace. He felt as though he were going insane.
Remember, Yepert, the voice warned. If you give me away then I will inflict pain upon you, pain the likes of which you cannot imagine. It always seemed to know when his thoughts drifted to the forlorn hope of telling his friends. Often, the threats were to himself, but when he tried to resist those threats changed so that they were redirected to his friends and family. The threats were evil, savage and cruel. The worst part was that he knew Danon was more than capable of carrying them out.
He was brought out of his thoughts as Luxon stepped forward. In his hands, he held the sigil stone he had recovered from Stormglade. He placed it onto Thanos’s desk and then took a small battered book from his cloak pocket.
Hmmm, what’s this then? Watch closely, Yepert; I need to see this, the voice said, suddenly sounding serious and interested.
Luxon looked at each of his friends and took a deep breath.
“I know where Asphodel is. The sigil stone I recovered from Stormglade showed me its location. After what I experienced on the Isle, I know for certain that everything depends on us retrieving it.”
Ferran raised a hand. “Say we retrieve it. Then what? Getting close to Danon will be nigh impossible without an army. With Ricard and the Legion trapped in Bison, and the other barons unwilling to march or already conquered, we don’t have enough warriors.”
Word had reached Caldaria that the barony of Kingsford had fallen to the Sarpi. An attack from both land and sea had proven too much for the defenders. The entirety of the south-west of Delfinnia was now under Danon’s dominion.
“The Knights of Niveren are too few in number to take Danon on,” Kaiden interjected. “We also need time to recruit more men and equip ourselves.”
“What about Rusay Broadmane?” asked Sophia. “He told you he’d come to Ricard’s aid if we rescued the king, did he not?”
“No help will come from Robinta,” Thanos said, shaking his head. “Our spies report that Danon has split his forces. An army of ten thousand Sarpi and N’gist was sighted marching north. They will reach the Ridder River and the borders of Rusay’s lands within a week. Such a force will be more than a match for his warriors.”
>
The room fell silent at the dire news. Kaiden rubbed his eyes, Ferran punched the wall in frustration.
“Unless by a miracle Ricard and the Legion somehow escape Bison, we must conclude that the realm is on the brink of defeat,” Thanos said. “The armies of BlackMoor are besieged by the tribes that fled the Great Plains and Watchers. Retbit remains under the control of Accadus. Eclin remains a land without a leader, besieged by Fell Beasts. We must begin to think the unimaginable.”
“What do you mean?” Ferran asked.
The Arch Mage faced the map and cast a spell. To everyone’s surprise, the map changed. Delfinnia remained but was now far smaller. Other land masses had appeared on the canvas.
“The Golden Empire once covered the entire world of Esperia. After the Magic Wars, contact with the wider world was lost. It is time we re-forged these ancient bonds with the other peoples of the world. Long ago, Zahnia the Great united the world in his struggle against Danon; we must do the same. We mages have kept knowledge of the other lands safe here in Caldaria. The continents of Tulins and Yolla still exist. Perhaps it is time to seek allies in those places.”
Ferran laughed in disbelief. The words of his future self-echoed in his mind. Luxon stared at the map. Only with the might of every civilisation on your side will you have the strength to challenge Danon’s forces.
“Thanos is right.” He said. “We cannot take the fight to Danon ourselves. What we can do, however, is find Asphodel and keep it out of his grasp. We know that he is looking for it too.”
“The excavations in Stormglade,” Sophia chipped in.
Luxon nodded. “From what I learnt on the Isle, it is the key to defeating him.” Luxon pointed to the map and Delfinnia. He placed his finger on a location in the west. “The sword is hidden in an old tomb somewhere on the Blackmoor.”
Sophia stepped forward. “The BlackMoor is a lot of ground to cover. Dangerous, too. Where do we even start looking?”
Luxon closed his eyes. The vision he had seen when touching the second stone in Stormglade came back to him.
“It is in a dark place that stinks of death and damp. There are wetlands for as far as the eye can see, and in its heart stands a stone structure of ancient design. Other ruins surround it, and a doorway leads down into a dark tunnel. It is some sort of tomb.”
“The Tomb of King Markus,” Ferran said with certainty. “I saw it once while hunting a Wraith on the Blackmoor. I remember the way, but it is not safe by any means. Fell Beasts and the undead remnants from an ancient battle still linger. The ground is marshy and treacherous. It will be hard going.”
Luxon crossed his arms in thought.
“Would you be able to find the way from the air? Umbaroth could take us.”
Ferran smiled and wiped his brow in relief.
“I hoped you’d say that. It will be a lot quicker to fly and yes, I reckon I could find the way from the air.”
Luxon looked at each of his companions and felt pride that he could call such loyal people his friends.
“Good. We leave first thing tomorrow.”
*
Yepert left Thanos’s chambers with the others, but quickly excused himself. He hurried through the Arch Tower and went outside. A cool breeze was beginning to stir, and thick clouds promised rain. Pulling his hood up, he walked towards the nearest city gate. Slipping outside the crystal walls, he broke into a run towards the nearby woods. He ran until his lungs burned, until he was deep in the woods and away from people. Finally, he collapsed to the earth, tears streaming from his face.
“I will not do it!” he screamed.
Throughout the briefing in Thanos’s room, the voice of Danon had been speaking his mad ravings. That was until Luxon spoke of the sword and the raving turned into maniacal laughter.
You will lead me straight to the sword, and you will retrieve it for me, Yepert. I will send my best killers to the Blackmoor; I will send my dragons there, too. All Luxon will find there is death caused by your hand.
Yepert had tried to say something in the chamber but the pain intensified whenever he thought about doing so. If the others had not been so distracted by Luxon and the map, they would have surely noticed him at the back of the room.
Trembling, he reached for the dagger on his belt and drew it from its sheath. With shaking hands, he placed the coldness of the steel to his throat.
“You cannot use me if I am dead,” he sobbed.
The voice laughed, mocking him.
Go on then. Do it. Do it. Do it! the voice boomed.
Yepert held the dagger to his throat, tears streaming down his face. He couldn’t betray his friends. Fear gripped him, and with a frustrated yell, he tossed the dagger away into the undergrowth.
Coward, Danon’s voice cackled. You’re so pathetic that you can’t even kill yourself. Accept it, Yepert. You are mine.
*
Luxon knocked on the door to Hannah’s quarters. For some reason, he felt nervous as well as excited. Would she look at him differently after all he had said in the meeting? How could anyone treat him normally when he had been through so much madness? Travelling to other worlds and other times was like something from old tales after all.
“Come in,” Hannah’s voice came from through the oak.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open and stepped inside. The quarters were small and cosy. A fire burned in a hearth, casting the room in a warm flickering glow. The only furniture was a bed, a simple desk and a chair. On the walls were dozens of pieces of paper pinned into place. Each contained the recipe for a medicine or potion – some things never changed. He had spent a lot of time in the room during their courtship; it held a lot of pleasant memories.
Hannah sat at the desk brushing her long golden hair. Luxon stood in the doorway, his arms across his chest as he took in the sight of her. She stopped brushing her hair and turned to face him, a coy smile on her lips. Her blue eyes twinkled mischievously. She wore a long blue dress that fell to her ankles, and which also had a plunging neckline, a stark contrast to her travel clothing. Luxon shut the door. They looked at each other for a moment, before Luxon strode forward and kissed her passionately. The smell of her was intoxicating. Hannah gently pushed him away, her eyes serious.
“If you’re here to tell me to stay in Caldaria whilst you go off to find Asphodel, you’re wasted your time. I’m going with you, and I am never leaving your side again. Seeing you fall at the Watchers and knowing that there was nothing I could do to help you … it almost broke me, Luxon.”
Luxon pulled her close and held her tight. “I’m sorry I scared you, Hannah. The Void Sickness almost consumed me, but,” he said, looking into her eyes, “I’m all better now. The Waters of Magic cured me. I’ve never felt better, nor stronger.”
“Strong enough to face Danon again?” she asked softly.
A shiver went down Luxon’s spine at the thought. He had faced Danon twice and lived. Granted, the first time had been when Danon was weak and the second had not been a direct battle. Whether he had the strength to defeat the dark lord one on one was another thing entirely.
“I don’t know. What I do know is that I’m strong enough to have fun with you,” he replied with a wry smile. Hannah laughed and pushed him back onto the bed.
“I was hoping you would say that,” she said seductively, before climbing on top of him.
19.
Bison
Accadus watched as the Sarpi army launched another assault against the city walls. Massive engines of war stood behind him. Strange contraptions built by Sarpi engineers, the siege engines could launch balls of lead at incredible speeds at the ravaged and crumbling walls of Bison. He watched as one of the engineers lit a taper and touched it to the device. A few moments went by and then, with a deafening bang, it fired. The ground shook, and the sound boomed out across the plains. Accadus focused on the projectile that was now soaring through the air. Within seconds, it struck the city. He gasped in awe as it obliterated one of the t
owers that, moments before, had been raining arrow fire onto the Sarpi infantry.
Accadus rolled his eyes as he spotted Sintinus approaching.
“I see you like our cannons,” the Sarpi general said in his hissing like voice. “With such weapons at our disposal, the Delfinnians don’t stand a chance.”
“They are … impressive,” Accadus replied. “Whether your cannons will be effective against magic, however, remains to be seen. What do you want? Is it finally time for my men to attack? Yours don’t seem to be making much headway.”
For three weeks, the Sarpi forces had been assaulting the city. For three weeks each attack had been repulsed. Losses were high on both sides. The forces of Danon, however, had a clear advantage, for their dead could always be resurrected via N’gist magic and join the ranks of the undead.
Sintinius ignored the snide tone in Accadus’s voice. “Lord Danon requests your presence. He has a very important mission for you, it seems.”
Accadus raised an eyebrow at the news.
“I wouldn’t keep him waiting,” Sintinius added.
Accadus turned and walked towards Danon’s command tent. Since the start of the siege, the land around the city had been converted into a makeshift military camp. Thousands of tents filled the plains out of range of the Legion defenders. He pulled up the hood of his black cloak and made his way through the camp. Thanks to a shower of rain in the night, the ground was now a quagmire of mud. Accadus used magic to walk on the soft ground and avoid being stuck. His men and the Sarpi, however, weren’t so lucky. He strode passed a group of men and horses struggling in the mud. They were trying to pull a catapult to the front, but the mud was causing the heavy siege engine to slide and sink. He paused and channelled his magic. Using telekinesis, he lifted the catapult out of the mud and over the heads of the stunned men. Focusing his power, he floated the catapult over to a patch of more solid ground and gently put it down. Having helped, he continued on his way, ignoring the calls of thank you from his men.
Quest for the Sundered Crown (The Sundered Crown Saga Book 3) Page 15