Noble Dragon (The Elven-Trinity Book 2)

by Mark Albany

  I shook my head. “It won’t happen. You don’t know her like I do.”

  “And you don’t know djinn like I do, Grant,” he said with a grim smile. “I don’t ask you to trust my words, just remember them when the time comes.”

  I didn’t answer, not wanting to give any thought to a time when Aliana would not be the loving, caring woman I knew. There was a darkness about her, yes, but that was true of any creature. Hell, we were out here thanks to a human who had given himself over to the darkness in his nature.

  Before I spoke again, I was distracted by the sight of Frarris slipping out from under Norel’s arms and trotting happily over to the fire. She sniffed at the pheasant but pulled away, looking like she didn’t care for cooked meat. Instead, with a powerful flap of her wings, she was airborne. She sailed toward one of the nearby trees then gripped the trunk with sharp claws, hanging upside down as she watched a small squirrel scurrying out into some bushes. Frarris showed no hesitation as she dropped into the bushes. I could hear a gentle squeal that was quickly cut off. I flinched at the sound of Frarris quickly killing and devouring her prey. She came away from the bushes with red on her scales, looking happy and full. I wondered how it was that I was feeling the same sensation, like a bond between us.

  “Dragons don’t seem to be that big of a surprise to you,” I pointed out as Oro started to cut pieces of meat for us to eat.

  “On any other day, they would have been enough to have my jaw on the ground in surprise and delight,” Oro admitted, leaving some pieces still cooking over the fire. I could hear Aliana and Norel starting to wake. “But after yesterday, I… well, it would require something truly unique to bring me to shock and awe.”

  I grinned, biting into the meat and growling softly as the rich taste flooded my mouth. Along with everything else, Oro was a rather talented cook. Norel and Aliana joined us. We shared the meat around until we were full, then cut the rest of the meat from the pheasant until there was nothing but bones left. The meat was salted and stored away for later consumption.

  “I’m not sure how I feel about the bond to my dragon you have now,” Norel said as we started to pack up the camp, covering the fire with dirt to hide it from anyone that might be following our trail.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, shouldering one of the packs.

  “You got a bit of magic from all of us,” Norel said. “It includes a bond with Frarris, which I can sense.”

  “You know the connection to Frarris has more to do with the passion shared between us, right, sister?” Aliana asked, gently and playfully bumping her sister in the shoulder with her fist.

  Norel shook her head, rolling her eyes and not even deigning to answer her question. It was rhetorical anyway, I realized. Oro was looking at me with a bit of surprise in his expression, as well as a bit of grudging respect as it suddenly dawned on him that I was in something of a relationship with both these women, but he too seemed unwilling to discuss the topic right now as he took up the last pack we’d recovered and we started off again, still keeping the western mountains in our sight.

  I had no idea where we were going, in all truth, but my companions seemed to and I was more than willing to trust them not to guide me astray.

  18

  This trek was taking longer than I thought it would.

  It might have been that I was a bit spoiled, having had Aliana’s portals to fall back on when quick jumps over long distances were needed. I was starting to question why we weren’t using them to begin with, although Aliana had explained that it had taken almost all the power she had to bring all four of us out of the dungeons, leaving her dangerously drained for our battle with the dark djinn. That battle could have gone very badly if a good deal of luck hadn’t been on our side. I wondered if it wouldn’t have been a better idea to wait it out in the ruins where it seemed the djinn couldn’t reach us, letting Aliana rest and regain her strength until she was able to raise one of her perception fields so we could travel unhindered.

  As events had unfolded, we ended up with what we needed, the dark djinn held captive in the ring I was wearing on a chain around my neck. But that didn’t change the fact that we had been tempting the fates yesterday, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to do so again.

  I had other problems of think about, I realized as my fingers found themselves scratching at my skin again. The crawling sensations had gotten better after a good night’s sleep, true, but they were still there. As the hours dragged on, it was more and more difficult to deal with them without giving in to my primal instincts.

  Thankfully, as the heat of midday passed and became the warning chill of later afternoon, I had something else to occupy my mind. Frarris wasn’t the regular kind of pet, although she exhibited similar behaviors as she alternated between rushing forward to see what was coming and then spending time with us, demanding attention for her efforts of bringing shiny stones and dead animals.

  Norel always seemed to know how to spoil her without taking too much time away from our travels.

  This time, though, I heard a shriek from Frarris a moment before she appeared in our line of sight, flying as quickly as she could through the trees. Our newly-created bond had me reacting only a moment after Norel, whose eyes were already wide open and hands starting to gather that lightning power in them.

  “Something’s coming,” Norel warned as I whispered a quick spell to wrap my hands in shields again, starting to regret not having brought the sword I’d taken from Cyron in our fight. I had left it at Norel’s estate, but I wasn’t sure where.

  Aliana looked over to me, grinning like she had just read my mind. As she flicked her hands, I saw the sword appear.

  “How?” I asked as she tossed it over to me.

  “If you think I’m in the habit of leaving weapons of unknown power and danger around for just anyone to find and use, you don’t know me that well at all, Grant,” she replied with a chuckle, flicking her hands again to fill them with her customary daggers.

  “Any chance you’d teach me that trick?” I asked. “Should make carrying the packs a lot easier.”

  “Like with all kinds of magic, there are limits to what can and can’t be carried in that fashion,” Aliana said, but her explanation was cut off when we felt the ground shake as whatever Frarris was warning us about started to come closer.

  Whatever they were, I thought, gripping the sword tighter with both hands. I could feel the runes in my hand starting to heat up as I extended my powers into the blade, watching the runes on it starting to glow as well. The itch under my skin seemed temporarily satisfied as the three creatures came into view.

  They were golems, I realized, creatures of rock and clay like the one we had engaged before, but smaller. They moved faster too, and in coordination with each other, heading toward us and picking up speed.

  “Golems,” Oro growled. “Foul creatures, signs of a foul mind behind their creation. Sever their heads, as you’ll find that the spells binding them are on their tongues.”

  I nodded. “Good to know.”

  As I watched Aliana, Norel, and Oro starting to charge at the creatures, a flicker of motion in the corner of my eye caught my attention. There was someone standing there watching. There was a yellowish gleam coming from the figure, but the presence wasn’t one I was ever going to forget.

  “It’s Cyron!” I called. “You three handle the golems. I’ll keep him busy.”

  The three of them, who had paused in their charge to see what I was talking about, quickly nodded. There really wasn’t much time to dispute what we were going to do. Sure, I had needed protection when the djinn attacked us, but if there was ever a time to trust in whatever new abilities I’d absorbed from my companions, it was now.

  The figure pulled his hand back, a ball of fire appearing between his fingers. With a roar, he launched it at the ladies and Oro, who were attacking his golems. I tracked the movement, rolling over my shoulder to cover ground quicker then coming to my feet and raising the sword out o
f instinct. The ball of fire grew in size as it roared toward where I stood between it and its targets—who happened to be my friends.

  The ball impacted on the sword with an explosion I could feel across my face as it was sliced in half and fizzled harmlessly in the trees around us.

  “That sword is mine,” Cyron growled after seeing the blade I was wielding.

  I spun it in a quick figure-eight, growing used to the weight of it in my hands. “You want it?” I hissed, holding it in a ready stance. “Come and claim it.”

  Cyron chuckled and raised his hands again, showing lightning dancing between his fingers that looked similar to Norel’s. I pulled the blade closer to me, feeling a roar of power rushing up in response to the forthcoming attack. With a growl, I took a step forward, swinging the sword down. Sure, Cyron was too far away to actually strike but as it came down something appeared, a pure white beam extending from the blade over to where he was preparing to launch his strike.

  It hit him hard, but as he was sent stumbling a few steps backward, I saw his form go through one of the bushes behind him like it wasn’t even there.

  Or, more accurately, like he wasn’t even there.

  Cyron checked himself for wounds, but found none.

  “Impressive,” he grunted, rolling his neck. “Picked up a few new tricks, did you, boy?”

  “You have no idea,” I said, grinning manically as I started to advance. I could hear the sounds of the battle with the golems happening behind me, but I didn’t have time to check and see if my friends needed help. The attacks from Cyron were coming quickly and furiously. I refused to cede a step, using my sword to block and deflect the strikes Cyron was attacking me with. It seemed that his body was elsewhere, but this image of him appeared to be no less dangerous. With each attack that hit the sword, I could feel the itch under my skin getting worse, like the sword was storing the power being thrown at me in preparation for a strike that was to come.

  I ducked under a lightning bolt aimed at my head and came up within striking distance of Cyron, sweat dripping from my skin and breathing hard, gritting my teeth as I watched a ball of fire forming in his hand. I swung the blade up at it, not expecting much of an impact. I was half right. The blade went through him like he wasn’t even there, but the hand gathering power for an attack suddenly dropped out of view, like it ceased to exist. Cyron looked down at his missing hand in shock, and then at me.

  “I will claim my blade again, you insolent piece of shit,” he hissed at me, clearly in a lot of pain. “I’ll pluck it from your fingers after I’m done cutting the skin from your body.”

  “Until then,” I growled, flooding all the power I’d been absorbing into the sword and watching it start to glow with a brilliant white light, “I thank you for letting me you use it. Goodbye.”

  The power exploded from the sword as I pushed it forward into phantom-Cyron’s chest. The explosion left nothing but a warm gust of wind that knocked my hair back, but as the light faded, the apparition was gone.

  I turned around to see how Aliana, Norel, and Oro were doing with their charges, and found them standing over a couple piles of rocks. One of the golems had been destroyed before, as evidenced by it still holding its humanoid form, absent a head.

  “Well,” Aliana gasped, bending to lean on her knees. “That went better than expected.”

  Oro nodded, looking equally spent. “We had the beasts handled, but your assistance is appreciated.”

  Norel tilted her head. “Who did you absorb that bright white light power from, anyway? I know it’s definitely not mine.”

  “That actually comes from me,” I said with a cheeky grin. “Aliana has been helping me develop my powers of mysticism for a while, but this is the first time I’ve had the confidence to use it in a real combat situation.”

  Aliana grinned. “Well, if beating down phantoms was enough to bring it out of you, I would have introduced them into your training a long time ago.”

  “Please don’t,” Oro warned. “And… well, as much as I think we should get some rest, I don’t think it wise to remain in a place our adversary knows us to be. I suggest we travel for a few hours in the darkness to make ourselves less likely to be found.”

  We all seemed to agree with the sentiment. As drained as we were from the fight, we knew there were probably more of Cyron’s minions on the way. Fighting them off would be a lot more draining than keeping a good pace through the first few hours after the sun had set.

  As we moved through the deepening darkness, Aliana sidled up next to me, gripping my shoulder and making me stop as the other two kept moving.

  “I just thought you should know,” she said, her voice taking on a lustful quality, “when we find a safe place to sleep, I’ll take care of you, and give you a boost in ways that have proved very popular in the past.”

  I looked over at her, my hand slipping down to grab a handful of her ass. I squeezed it firmly and tugged her closer to me as I leaned in to kiss her. “Duly noted.”

  19

  As we got closer to the mountains, we were relying more and more on Oro to guide us. I asked him where it was that we were heading, exactly.

  “There’s a place in the pass leading into the western kingdoms,” he explained, giving me an odd smile. “It is a dangerous place, deeply steeped in magic. It is known that the gods of the past dwelt in these mountain ranges, and while they are long extinct, their power remains. In that power is a small… well, not exactly a breach, but it is where the walls standing between our world and the underworld are at their thinnest. If we are to succeed in breaking through the barriers to enter that cursed place ourselves, our best chances lie there.”

  I nodded. “Let me guess. It is a place fraught with all manner of dangerous and deadly creatures.”

  Oro grinned. “Oh, yes.”

  As we reached the foot of the mountains, we found ourselves travelling inexorably uphill. It slowed us down a good deal, but after a couple days of travel we found ourselves where the forest ended, leading us into the pass between the mountains above. There were signs that the place wasn’t formed by the powers of nature, but if it was made by the hands of men it had been built many, many years before. Rivulets of water could be seen making their way down from the snow on the peaks, making inroads into the stone and creating a small stream that flowed down toward us and into the forest.

  As we broke the tree line, Oro held his hand up, pausing our advance. It was only mid-afternoon, but he put his pack down and took a deep breath.

  “I would suggest that we rest here,” he said, looking uncomfortable at the sight of the pass ahead of us. “We should eat, drink, and rest while we can. We approach the final stretch of our journey and between here and the end, we will not find a place where sleeping is advisable. It is the hardest part, fraught with all kinds of danger.”

  I gritted my teeth. The sun was still hanging in the sky, giving us a good few more hours of light before sunset. But considering we’d brought Oro into our group as a guide for precisely this reason, it didn’t seem like the best idea to just ignore his advice now.

  We took a few steps back into the forest before setting up a place to camp. We shared the last of the pheasant between us and sipped at the water in our skins. Frarris realized we were stopping for the night and went off to find some food.

  I couldn’t stop looking at the pass. At first glance, it hadn’t seemed like much. An impressive feat of engineering, true, but I didn’t have much of a mind for that so it wasn’t that interesting to me. But it was difficult to put from my mind, and my eyes started trailing toward it more and more.

  Oro got to his feet after eating and drinking, moving over to me. “No good can come from letting your mind abide on that place. It’s…not a pleasant place to be in. Legiont is a place full of all kinds of lore and mystery, its walls thickly carved with all kinds of runes. If you need my advice, do not try to read them. As powerful as you’ve become, you’re still not strong enough for that kind of
strain on your mind. I don’t want you making a mess of things.”

  He started walking away, and I found myself jumping up from my seat to walk with him as he headed into the forest for firewood.

  “How much do you know about the place?” I asked, catching up to him. He turned, smiling to see me joining him.

  “I spent a good portion of my younger years here,” he said with a small smile. “It wasn’t long after my father died. I spent many days in that pass chasing demons, real and of my imagining.”

  We came to a halt once we were out of sight of Aliana and Norel. Oro turned to face me, his face an unreadable mask.

  “Hand me the ring,” he said.

  I tilted my head as I looked at him. It was an odd request, but over the past few days we’d spent with the man, I couldn’t help but feeling a budding sensation of trust between us, especially over the bond we now seemed to share. I pulled the chain connected to the ring over my head and handed it to him.

  “You’re not thinking of betraying us, are you?” I asked, joking at first, but when he didn’t answer right away, his eyes studying the ring closely, I found my body growing tense. I reached for the sword I was carrying on my back.

  Oro saw my movement and chuckled. “I will not deny that the thought has crossed my mind,” he admitted. “But this is bigger than you or I. I see that now.”

  “Aliana, Norel,” he called. I turned to see that the two women had followed us at a discreet distance. It seemed I wasn’t the only one having doubts about the man.

  “Join us, please,” he said, ignoring their suspicious glances as they came closer and stood next to me.

  “What are you doing?” Aliana asked. “I thought you said we were going to be spending the night here.”

  “No, I said we needed to rest here,” he said with a small smile, still studying the ring closely. Frarris jumped out from the bushes, the sight of viscera and blood on her scales indicating a successful hunt as she came over and nudged my thigh with her head. She looked at Oro, who had placed the ring on the ground, leaving it connected to the chain.