by Ben Wolf
He chuckled. “Perhaps not, but now I have no reason to.” His expression went solemn. “Frankly, I wish I could go back and change what happened.”
“How much of what happened?” Lilly eyed him.
Condor squinted at her. “On second thought, perhaps it isn’t wise to delve too deeply into history. I’m loyally serving you now, and that’s what matters.”
He gave her a cunning smirk, and her heart jumped. His strong jawline, the tinge of stubble on his cheeks, chin, and upper lip, and his piercing blue eyes sent her blood pumping faster.
Coupled with the intense yet somehow honorable intent he conveyed with each look—every look—and Lilly often didn’t know how she managed to control her impulses. She just wanted to grab him and kiss him.
Even so, Calum haunted her mind. Had Calum not been around, Lilly and Condor might have started something by now. Then again, had Falcroné not been around, perhaps Lilly and Calum might have had something more than a friendship instead.
“Are you alright, Premieress?”
Even when Condor’s blue eyes showed concern, Lilly found them alluring.
She nodded and refocused herself. “I’m fine, thank you. Just thinking about Reptilius, about Magnus and Kahn and Vandorian and what we’re up against. We can’t possibly hope to fight the Saurians with twenty of the Sky Realm’s finest, a few thousand Wolves, and a handful of other elite fighters—”
“Plus Kanton.”
Lilly whacked his breastplate. “Stop it. Kanton is—well, you know what I mean.”
Condor bared his perfect white smile again. “I do.”
“If Magnus fails, we’ll have to get out of there quickly. If my father couldn’t defeat Kahn with the Calios, and if Magnus can’t defeat him with the Dragon’s Breath, then I don’t think there’s anyone in Western Kanarah who can.”
“I understand.” Condor glanced over at General Tolomus, who hovered along the outer rim of his soldiers. “He’s prepared to help you escape, I’m sure. And, of course, I’d give my life to protect you.”
Lilly’s heart sank at his comment, and she met his captivating eyes. “I’ve already had someone do that for me. Once was enough. Please stay alive.”
He grinned, not seeming to have lost any of his usual exuberance. “I’ll do my best.”
Weeks later, Magnus led them to the base of the Blood Mountains, and they left the Desert of the Forgotten behind them. The sight of those red peaks in their full glory sent a slew of emotions running through Magnus’s chest and mind, but overall he felt more hopeful than worried or afraid.
After a few more weeks of trekking through the Blood Mountains, the Saurian city of Reptilius came into view, carved into the side of Firebrand Mountain, the tallest mountain in all of Kanarah.
Red stones of uniform size formed the fortified city’s exterior walls and the trio of watchtowers that ascended from three of the walls’ corners. A yellow-orange gravel path wound its way through a valley and up to the tallest of the three towers—the one on the right—and to the gate housed at its base. The gate served as the only known way in or out of Reptilius except for going over its walls.
A red palace loomed beyond the wall—the Crimson Keep. Magnus knew the building well; he’d grown up inside of it with the rest of his brothers and sisters. He would soon see its grand rooms and view the seat of his father’s power once more.
Anticipation set Magnus’s heart beating faster. He hadn’t looked upon his home for more than a year, and when he’d left, he’d done so the night of his father’s murder. Now Vandorian and Kahn ruled Reptilius and its inhabitants.
But not for much longer.
“What’s our plan once we reach the fortress?” Calum’s voice snapped Magnus back into real time.
Magnus didn’t tear his eyes away from the Red Keep. “I fight Kahn, I kill him, and I take back my father’s throne.”
“That simple, is it?” Axel rolled his eyes. “Doesn’t leave much room for creativity.”
“I do not require any of you to accompany me.” He met Axel’s eyes, then those of Lilly, Riley, and Calum, too. “In fact, it is better if you do not. Fewer liabilities.”
“Liabilities?” Axel scoffed. “You just gave me this great sword, and now I’m a liability?”
“I have to say, Magnus,” Calum’s voice had a hard edge to it as well, “I agree with Axel. We can help you. And we want to.”
Magnus regretted his tone, but only marginally. Above all else, he was focused on what he must do, and the fewer impediments he encountered along the way, the better. “This is a task I must perform on my own. I do not want Kahn or Vandorian to attempt to gain any leverage over me should they take any of you captive.”
“Don’t worry about us, Scales.” Axel whacked his shoulder.
“That is precisely my point.” Magnus stared at him, and his regret burgeoned and began to swirl in his gut. “I would not worry about you. Even if it came at the cost of one of your lives, I would not stop in my quest to destroy both Kahn and Vandorian.”
Calum glanced at Axel with raised eyebrows. “I don’t think you’d actually do that, Magnus.”
“With respect, Calum, though we have been friends for more than a year, you do not yet know what I would or would not do in order to achieve vengeance for my father. Now, here in this place, I would cross any line and make any sacrifice to restore honor to the throne of Reptilius and to destroy the evil my brother and uncle have brought upon my people.”
Calum’s eyebrows rose, and he hesitated.
Magus hoped Calum would recognize the cold sincerity in his voice for what it was and stay behind, but Calum had a cause of his own, a mission to complete, a charge to fulfill.
“Even if that is the case,” Calum finally said, “Lumen told me that I’m supposed to show Kahn the sign. I need to do what he asked.”
“It will be a waste of your time, and it will likely mean your death if you accompany me. Vandorian has certainly told Kahn of my survival by now. They will be on their guard, and they will likely try to kill me on sight.”
“I guess you have a point,” Axel said, his voice flat.
Magnus shrugged. “I would apologize, but it is a reality I cannot change.”
“I’m going with you anyway,” Calum said. “I can’t let you go in there alone.”
Magnus shook his head. “Had you not escaped from the quarry with me, I would have been going in alone anyway.”
“But I did escape with you.” Calum insisted, “I’m coming along, Magnus.”
“Me too,” Axel said. “Someone’s gotta watch your back while you’re in there.”
Magnus narrowed his eyes and turned to Lilly and Riley. “Premieress, you and Riley should stay back, at least, as commanders of your respective armies. If my people kill either of you, the entire plan will fall apart.”
Lilly frowned. “Magnus, you saved my life in that field of grain. You saved me from Roderick, from slavery, from the arrow in my shoulder, and countless times since then. I’m indebted to you by the Law of Debt. Whether they like it or not, General Tolomus and General Balena can lead the remainder of our people should something happen. I’m coming with.”
Condor cleared his throat.
“And so is Condor.”
“I’m coming as well.” Riley, now more impressive than he’d ever been, nodded. “As the new leader of the Wolves, or at least most of them, I need to practice this diplomacy thing. Meeting with other leaders and all that stuff.” Riley quirked one eyebrow up. “Worst-case, I can always hide.”
Axel groaned and shook his head, but Magnus grinned. Riley’s change into a Shadow Wolf made him even more impressive, but he was the same old Riley in the end.
“I cannot stop any of you from coming,” Magnus said. “I can only advise you against it.”
“Consider us advised.” Calum smiled. “Let’s camp for the night, and tomorrow we’ll reach the fortress.”
Magnus nodded. If he were being honest, he was gra
teful for the show of support, though he wished his desires weren’t so divided. If it came down to the lives of his friends or the throne of Reptilius, would he truly allow them to perish?
He touched the pouch hanging from his belt that held the Dragon Emerald.
It was almost time.
There was a way to ensure their safety and take the throne. But in order to do so, he would have to risk everything, and he would only get one shot at this.
“Gather round,” Magnus said. “We must plan our approach.” He motioned toward General Tolomus. “You, in particular, General, will want to be involved in this conversation.”
The next day, Magnus led his friends toward Reptilius. His scales prickled with raw anticipation, and he continued to visualize his victory in his head. Perhaps envisioning it would help make it so.
General Tolomus reluctantly remained behind to lead the Windgales, and Kanton stayed with them. Riley left Janessa in charge of the Wolves despite her not being a Werewolf, but he commanded the Wolves to obey her or else they’d suffer his wrath.
Within four hours, Magnus and the other five descended into the valley that led to Reptilius’s gates. Sparse vegetation lined the yellow-orange path, but it was still more than they’d seen in their entire journey through the Desert of the Forgotten.
“They’re already approaching us.” Riley sniffed the air. “They’re already in this valley. Not far, either.”
Magnus didn’t care. Though he hoped to avoid killing any of his own people, no number of Saurians would stop him from reaching Kahn now. “I do not fear them.”
“At least two-dozen of them,” Riley said, still sniffing. “Most of them are Sobeks.”
“Lilly and I can haul either Calum or Axel out of here if we have to, but not both,” Condor said. “If we’re as outnumbered as Riley says, we can’t fight that many.”
Magnus shook his head. “We move forward. We surrender if we must, but we move forward.”
“Hate to break it to you, but you see those holes in the walls of rock around us?” Riley pointed toward a network of dark holes and caves in the walls that framed the valley on both sides. “They’ve got a small army spread throughout those caves. Even if we did turn back, we wouldn’t make it. We’re already surrounded.”
Chapter Sixteen
Magnus stopped walking, and the others stopped their advance as well. This sort of thing was exactly why he’d wanted to face Kahn alone.
But as Riley said, it was too late now.
“Show yourselves,” Magnus bellowed. He raised his arms out to his sides, perpendicular to his body. “I am Magnus, son of Praetorius. I am the one Vandorian seeks. Take me to him and be assured of the reward he has no doubt promised you.”
A moment slithered by, then dozens of Saurians emerged from their hiding places with weapons bared. As Riley had assessed, most of them were Sobeks, and most of them wielded Blood Ore weapons—axes, swords, spears, and more.
“Let me do the talking,” Magnus said loud enough for his friends to hear, but not loud enough for the approaching Saurians.
One of them, a Sobek with a steel-gray breastplate, carried a familiar ball-and-chain mace studded with blue Blood Ore spikes as he approached Magnus. His dark-green scales bore more than a hint of gray as well, a telltale sign that he’d long since passed his 600th year.
Magnus recognized the Sobek and gave a slight bow, but he didn’t take his eyes off him. “General Hanza.”
“Magnus. I would say it is good to see you, but it would be an untruth.” His voice scraped out of his throat in raspy, gravelly tones as it always had. He stopped ten feet from Magnus, and they stared at each other.
“I understand, General.” Magnus would have liked to share a feast with General Hanza and recount the last year since he’d escaped the Crimson Keep, but now wasn’t the time. “I am surprised that Vandorian entrusted this task to you.”
“There is no one more fit to lead Reptilius’s forward defenses.” General Hanza’s scaly lips curled into a wry grin. “Besides, you have killed almost everyone else he trusts. He had no other options.”
“Allow us to enter the city in peace, and take us to the Crimson Keep, and we will comply peacefully.”
General Hanza tilted his head and scanned the Saurians all around them. “It does not look like you have much of a choice, Magnus.”
Magnus touched the pouch on his belt and reassured himself that the Dragon Emerald still hung in its place. “Then lead the way.”
“I must require that you surrender your weapons.”
“I fear we have to decline your request,” Magnus said.
“Then I regret that we will have to deliver your body to Vandorian devoid of its soul instead of intact. The same goes for your friends.”
Magnus raised his chin. “We would rather die than give up our weapons.”
“There is no need for such drama, Magnus.” General Hanza wasn’t going to budge, and Magnus knew it. “They will remain nearby in my personal care. Should you be granted permission to carry them after your audience with Vandorian, I will return them to you immediately.”
Axel cleared his throat, and Magnus glanced back and shot him a glare.
General Hanza closed the distance between them and lowered his voice. “Please, Magnus. My instructions are to bring you to Vandorian alive. I would hate to let him down, and I am sure you would prefer to see him while you yet draw breath than the alternative.”
Magnus exhaled a long hiss through his nostrils. Ultimately, General Hanza was right. Magnus had no other choice. He unstrapped his sword from his back, stared at it, then took five steps forward. He held it by its sheathed blade and extended it to General Hanza, hilt-first.
General Hanza’s golden eyes narrowed to slits as he scrutinized the weapon. For a moment, Magnus considered yanking it back, drawing his sword, and cutting the general down, but he decided against it.
General Hanza had always treated him fairly, and Magnus doubted that had changed. Not even Vandorian or Kahn could corrupt someone as honorable as General Hanza.
The chain of General Hanza’s mace clinked as he stepped forward and reached for the sword. He grasped the hilt and nodded.
Magnus released his grip on the sheath then turned back and said, “It is alright. Hand them over.”
The remainder of the group complied, though reluctantly. Lilly stood behind Condor and gave him her bow and arrows, and he handed them, along with his sword, to the nearest Sobek. She’d wisely left the Calios behind, in General Tolomus’s keeping, for exactly this reason. Calum and Axel relinquished their swords as well.
General Hanza motioned with his head toward the Crimson Keep. “Come.”
The platoon of Saurians escorted them the remainder of the way through the valley and up the path to the fortress. Magnus marveled at the height of the red walls, now seemingly shorter than when he’d left. Then again, he’d grown taller when he’d transformed into a Sobek.
Saurian sentries stared down at him from atop the wall, their expressions a mix of disdain and confusion. He didn’t blame them—even if they didn’t recognize him, they recognized the Blood Ore breastplate strapped to his chest.
When they reached the gate, chains rattled, gears clanked, and the lattice of Blood Ore bars groaned as the door lifted. Magnus and his friends followed General Hanza into Reptilius, and the gate shut behind them.
Magnus huffed. It hadn’t been his first choice, but submitting to General Hanza had gotten him inside the city, at least.
Then again, walking straight up to Vandorian in the courtyard beyond the city’s walls wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind either. But there Vandorian stood, his arms folded and flanked by what remained of his personal guard, plus a few new recruits. General Hanza led Magnus and his friends directly to him.
“I am impressed by your audacity, Magnus,” Vandorian said. “I never expected you would actually return to Reptilius, especially after our encounter in Sharkville.”
; Magnus clenched his right fist, which had long since fully regenerated. “I am again whole, and with my new hand I will strike you from this world.”
“Subtle,” Axel muttered from behind him. “Really subtle.”
Vandorian shook his head. “Magnus, for all your learning and knowledge, you lack the simple sense to know when you are defeated. You stand at our mercy—my mercy.”
“You have never known mercy,” Magnus countered. “I hold no hope for mercy. Only for justice.”
Vandorian grinned. He approached Magnus, reached for his waist, and jerked the pouch from Magnus’s belt. “I see you have not given up on carrying this around. How naïve to think you would ever be able to use it. Only one being in all of Kanarah knows how to use it, and he rules this fortress.”
“Then why has he not told you, Vandorian?” Magnus eyed him. “Does he fear you will use it against him and betray him, just as you both betrayed my father?”
“Kahn will reveal its secret in his timing. He will grant me the right to transform at his leisure, and in the meantime, I am pleased to serve at his command.”
“Then you are nothing but a shortsighted slave.” Magnus shook his head. “You always were foolish, Vandorian.”
“No, you were foolish to resist me back at Sharkville, but you are even more foolish to have returned here.” Vandorian scoffed, and his gaze shifted from Magnus. “Much less with the Windgale Princess and a Shadow Wolf, whom I can only assume is the leader of most of those desert dogs.”
Riley didn’t say a word.
“Kind of you to bring so many high-value officials with you, Magnus. You have all but secured our dominance in Western Kanarah in doing so. But before we decide what to do with them, you die first.” Vandorian drew his sword, and Magnus tensed.
“Wait!” Calum started forward but Magnus held him back.
“Stand back, Calum. If this traitor wishes to kill me without a sword in my hand, let him. It will only reinforce my claim of his cowardice.”