The Necromancer's Dragon

by C D Muller

  “You have no proof that I tried to kill Liongod,” he whispered, “you accuse me of such high treachery, of attempting to murder a dragon rider.”

  The Empress’s lip twitched a little.

  “I could have you exiled from here,” she threatened.

  “You don't have any proof,” Ashur smirked.

  “You would be surprised by what I have gathered that could have you locked up for the rest of your days, or worse, sent to the gallows.”

  Ashur rose to his feet and stood up straight.

  “I have further proof that you, Liongod, and my co-partner, Captain Altessa would be put to death by the next sunrise,” he said with a smile and pulled out a leather journal that was stashed away in his robes.

  The Empress’ eyes widened when she recognized it but she attempted to keep calm.

  “I’m not sure what you mean,” she whispered.

  “Oh, I think you do,” Ashur said again. “I had some assistance, but I was able to dig around through our mission records and have put together proof that Liongod is your daughter in disguise. The stillborn child that was brought back to life through illegal and treacherous magic! What’s more, I highly suspect that the dragon, Thor, was rescued with her as well by Gromm and Beck. I will have a word with them eventually and I can be very persuasive. Wait until the Council hears about this. She may have fooled the Council this time around, but after Vidar hears this, the next time you will see your daughter is when she’s walking to the gallows!”

  Ashur turned sharply on his heels to walk away and grinned at his victory.

  He made his way back to his main office, but was greeted by a malicious looking woman wearing a black cowl and a military uniform. Her long, blonde hair drifted towards her waist from underneath the cowl. A tattoo of a cobra was on both of her arms. She walked over and knelt before him. The sound of hissing snakes filled the air.

  “Greetings to you,” Ashur growled. “The Dark Master knows Azrael is a traitor. I have an important mission for you, Medusa.”

  * * * *

  Selena kept close by Thor’s side throughout the next few days as her thoughts raced to what Xyaxon told her. She still had more questions that she wanted to ask Silver, particularly about what she did back in the ruin, but she was instructed to wait until evening when he had time.

  Although she had a scar, she healed very quickly from the Lich’s blow, despite some soreness. The battle against the Lich continued to play in her mind. It tormented her to where it ached. His crimson eyes glaring into hers, cutting into her like a two-edged sword. Her mind fogged with darkness and despair.

  To keep her mind away from thinking negatively, she and Thor kept busy in conversation, talking about anything. Selena enjoyed their discussions, from magic to philosophical ideals, about fancy jewelry that her dragon might enjoy wearing, and even about what happened after she fainted.

  He arched his neck and sniffed the front buckle that was strapped over his chest.

  If it’s possible, I would like to get one of those fancy buckles that I’ve seen the other dragons wear.

  They may be a bit expensive, but I would still like to go shopping for you. The Council gave me a decent sum after our first battle and I want to give you what you want and deserve, Selena said with a smile.

  I would like that very much. I also wanted to ask more about the Day of Eternal Darkness.

  I’ve never heard of it before. It was never mentioned in any of the history books that we’ve read together. Xyaxon told me that the device in the ruins spoke of it.

  When is this supposed to happen?

  I dunno. That’s one of the things I was hoping Silver would have an answer for.

  That’s frightening and that could explain why the Divines are slowly losing influence over our world. I noticed that not very many believe in them anymore.

  Despite the prophecy, I think we can decide the outcome based off our choices. Who is to say that we can’t change it? What if the prophecy was just one possibility?

  That would be quite interesting.

  How did you know that Myrrdin was Venexus in disguise?

  I can sense evil presences. I wish I could have gone with you before when you first ran into him. I could have warned you! I always felt Venexus, or at least some kind of powerful creature, was always following you, but it always went away whenever I was near.

  They were interrupted by Silver. He stood behind one of the stalls and was clapping.

  “I had a feeling that Myrrdin was a traitor, but I never thought he was Venexus in disguise! I always hated him anyway!” Silver exclaimed.

  “It’s good to see you again, Captain,” Selena said with a grin.

  “Likewise. I wanted to make sure that you two were well. I know that you’ve been out of your bunker for most of the day and now evening. I wanted to let you know that the General has been a bit uptight with you leaving us during the enemy’s ceasefire. However, with my report, he dropped the subject entirely. You said that you wanted to talk to me?”

  “Azrael mentioned that you had a theory about… me turning into… a dragon,” she began.

  “Hmmm. Where to begin? Ah! I actually figured that having dragon blood, with you being made entirely of magic from the Well of Souls, would give you some kind of dragon-like ability, but I did not anticipate you turning into a full dragon!”

  Selena swallowed hard and explained what Xyaxon told her. Silver listened intently and did his best to save all questions for last.

  When she finished, he clapped his hands together.

  “That makes sense! And of course I can show you how to control it! It will take much time though!”

  “But we don’t know if we have a lot of time. He also mentioned the Day of Eternal Darkness-” she was immediately cut off.

  “That’s not possible!” Silver exclaimed.

  Selena and Thor exchanged glances.

  “The Fire Lion and Azrael seemed to know it exists,” Selena said.

  “Uh…” Silver spun around and swore Azrael’s name under his breath.

  “What’s going on?” Selena asked.

  “I’ve heard about it and I believe that… I may have witnessed it once before, a long time ago,” Silver said quietly. “I am not sure exactly but I wrote down the details in case. That was over ten thousand years ago, when that happened. You could feel the evil roam the land and we were draped in shadow for that long winter.”

  “Long winter? Then it follows the winter months!” Selena exclaimed.

  If it’s true then we don’t have much time. That’s about six months away!

  How can we defeat Venexus in that short amount of time?

  The three sat together in silence.

  “I think we can still do it,” Silver said after a while. “With your newfound power, I can help train both you and Thor! I know the perfect way to do it but it will be hard work!”

  “We will all need to work together on a strategy then and we need everyone involved if we want to do this,” Selena announced.

  “True. But first, I’ve been meaning to apologize for not… well, you know, telling you about me sooner,” he said with a slight chuckle.

  “I actually suspected you being Genesis Altessa. I’ve been wanting to ask you but there was so much going on and I could never get you alone, especially with the battle,” she replied.

  “You still deserved the right to know. It’s not easy telling someone that you’re a demi-god,” he laughed.

  “An immortal shape-shifter, huh? That sounds exciting. I bet that you’ve seen so much!” Selena said excitedly, but Silver’s expression changed.

  “Being immortal isn’t all that it’s made out to be. Day in and day out, you go through and just exist. While you may not age, you watch everyone you know around you grow old and eventually die. After a while, you start to lose your memory of anything you may have done or anyone whom you’ve met. You slowly start to grow mad as time continues to press on and you realize that existence i
s pain,” he explained.

  “I could never imagine that kind of life,” Selena said.

  Silver chuckled.

  “Honestly, it’s overrated.”

  “Was that the real reason why you created the Well of Souls?” she asked.

  “The whole purpose of that was to bring the dead back to life, not the other way around. If anything, that was probably as close to death as I’ll ever get.” He sighed. “I know that it's difficult to deal with a shape-shifter, especially with one as old as I am. I can understand if you don't want to be associated with me in any way.”

  “Nonsense,” Selena quickly said, giving him a smile, “I find it fascinating and astounding. I would love to help you with your research if you ever continue, although I'm not sure if I would be of much help. Even if I'm not very pretty and all I'm ever good at is just reading.”

  Silver stepped forward.

  “Selena, don't say that!” he said again, “you are beautiful, wonderful, intelligent, amazing, talented, perfect, just...everything about you is amazing! You are special and I made sure you were that way!”

  What he did next was unexpected, even for Silver. He grabbed her shoulders and, when he brought her close, he kissed her.

  It felt as though time had stopped. His lips were soft against hers. Her heart skipped a beat and she found herself wrapping her arms around him and kissed him back. All her thoughts about Venexus, the battle at Alfheim, Ragnarok– they all disappeared from her mind.

  When they pulled away, both of their faces turned red and they each immediately took a step back.

  “I’m sorry, I… I don’t know what came over me,” Silver muttered and attempted to clear his throat. “I never thought I would get the chance to do that but… I know if word got out, it would go against conduct.”

  Selena could not respond but instead looked off to the side.

  “I… I want you to know that I care about you, more than you know. You deserve to be happy,” Silver whispered again.

  She nodded and tried to think of a way to change the subject.

  “Since you're a shape-shifter,” Selena began, “what is your true form?”

  Silver did not respond at first. Instead, he closed his eyes and smiled.

  “I wouldn’t necessarily call it my true form. I think the better question would be, what was I before I became a shape-shifter? I have vague memories of my past, but I remember being a young man who was a carpenter. I don’t think I was much older than you were when it happened, maybe like sixteen or seventeen. I wish I could remember more, but it’s been so long.”

  “I understand about not having any prior memories,” Selena said.

  “I blame Venexus for that one! I also don’t want you to think that I didn’t want to tell you anything. I wanted you to know everything, honestly! I’ve tried giving you hints; I even followed you into the library to make sure that you found Gundisalvus’ notes that I had.”

  “So it was you who put that book there for me to find?” Selena asked.

  “Of course,” Silver said with another smile. “I wanted you to know everything!”

  Selena nodded.

  “After you gave me your journal, I realized that I had met you before our encounter in Helshire Village. You were very familiar and I think Thor got that same scent as well,” she said.

  Silver smiled again.

  “Once you meet someone, you can never truly forget them.”

  “You’re right,” Selena whispered, “I also wanted to thank you for saving me.”

  Silver smiled as a few tears trickled down his face.

  “You don’t need to thank me for that,” he replied before he disappeared into the woods.

  Selena looked up and saw Silver flying away towards the heavens as the same white and blue dragon she recognized. She smiled as she watched him disappear in the sea of stars.

  I still don’t understand him or why he does what he does, but he does make a powerful ally.

  I agree. I know that we may not have long to face Venexus once and for all, but with all of us working together, I believe that we can make it.

  We don’t have that much time left if we need to defeat the Lich by Winter’s end. You’ll have to master your dragon form by then. I understand that could probably take years.

  We don’t have years.

  I know, but if we don’t do it before that day, then there won’t be anything left to save anymore.

  That’s never stopped us before. We can still do this.

  Selena smiled and the two looked up at the sky in silent communion.

  Venexus, we are coming for you.