The Dragon Empress: The Dragonspire Chronicles Book 6

by James E. Wisher

  As if sensing Rondo’s gaze, Polymus turned to look at him. “You look nervous.”

  “You’re not the first to say so.”

  Polymus smiled. He had a handsome face despite the chunk Lord Black had gouged out of it. “This situation doesn’t seem to suit you. I’ve also noticed that your comrades think little of your abilities. That’s a shame. You’re clearly clever and intelligent. Even-tempered too, unlike that shrew, Domina. Since we’ve been forced to work together, I’ve been tempted to kill her at least seven times.”

  “I’ll be sure to tell her when she and Umbra return.”

  Polymus chuckled. “No you won’t. You’re too afraid of her to strike up a conversation. As I said, you’re smart. If I were in charge, I’m sure I could find better uses for a man of your gifts than standing in the cold outside a virtually empty tower.”

  And here it comes. Just as Lord Black predicted. Rondo casually laid a hand on his belt pouch. The vial of green liquid he’d gotten from Domina was supposed to paralyze Polymus despite his immortality. Not that she could test it, so he was stuck with a potentially useless weapon if he had to use it.

  “I’ll bet,” Rondo said. “Unfortunately, I have no desire to get blasted to ash, tortured to death, have my throat cut, or get whatever horrible thing Umbra might think of done to me. I swore my loyalty to Lord Black and I mean to honor my promise. I suggest you do the same.”

  “He’s failing.” Polymus took a step toward Rondo who backed up an equal distance. “You must see it. The power and the pressure to use it are breaking him. He’s failed at every step since activating the central tower.”

  “I suppose you could do better?”

  “Of course I could do better! I was raised to be emperor. This is my destiny and some overly ambitious clerk is stealing it. At best your precious leader should be my personal scribe.”

  Rondo shifted his body to hide the fact that he’d dipped his hand into his pouch and wrapped it around the cool glass of the vial. “You should mention that as well when they return. No doubt Lord Black will be delighted to hear your thoughts.”

  Rondo shifted his gaze to the divot Lord Black had removed from Polymus’s face.

  The would-be emperor winced. “I’m no fool. Even as an immortal I recognize I have no hope of defeating him in a direct confrontation.”

  “Then why are we having this conversation?” Rondo asked.

  “Because there are other ways to defeat him. With the girl’s power I could send the black dragon against him. Ring or not, there’s no way he could defeat the mightiest dragon in the world.”

  “You can’t even talk to Ariel,” Rondo pointed out.

  “Not now, but for every potion, there’s an antidote. If we lock ourselves in the tower, I can whip up a counter to the tongue twister potion in a couple days. Then I’ll be free to take my place as the true emperor with you as my second. I can even share the secret of immortality with you.”

  Rondo shook his head. “Lord Black knows the tower combination. You couldn’t lock him out if you wanted to.”

  “He may know the current combination, but I know how to change it. My family built these towers. You think there are any secrets I don’t know?”

  “Probably not, but as I said, there’s no way I’m going to betray Lord Black. I am willing to pretend this conversation never happened. That seems fair, right? You don’t want to die and I don’t want trouble. Let’s just keep watch like we’re supposed to.”

  “You disappoint me, Rondo, you truly do.”

  Polymus pulled a dagger from a hidden sheath in his cloak.

  Rondo brought his hand around to throw the vial.

  It shattered against Polymus’s chest and splattered green liquid all over him. Even as his body stiffened, Polymus lunged with the last of his strength.

  Rondo stumbled back, evading the blade.

  Polymus collapsed on top of Rondo’s left leg, knocking him flat and pinning him to the ground. Something wet soaked into Rondo’s thigh. As his body went rigid it became clear that the paralytic had gotten through his pants.

  As he lay there, stiff as a board, all Rondo could think was that Shade was going to have a field day making fun of him.

  Leonidas flew back toward the tower, his mind racing. How would he defeat someone whose magic he couldn’t absorb? There had to be a way. There was always a way. The dragons were the obvious answer, but his previous attempt to use them for something like that proved a disaster. If the girl could control more than one, that would be another matter, but as things stood now, a dragon was out of the question.

  “You really saved my neck back there, Boss. Thanks.” Shade’s voice snapped him back to reality.

  “What happened? One old man shouldn’t have given you any trouble.”

  “That old man knew his way around a sword, but you’re right, if I’d had time, I could have worn him down. One of the bards showed up and lent him a hand. The ground grabbed my ankle and I was stuck.”

  “The bards have proven more formidable than I expected,” Leonidas said. There were so many things that had proven more difficult than he’d expected. There were stray moments when he wished he’d never learned of the towers and their abilities.

  “How many did you kill?” Shade asked.

  “None. I ran into the wizard that used dark energy to attack the tower. I couldn’t absorb his magic.”

  “That isn’t good.”

  Leonidas barked a laugh. “No, it certainly isn’t good. I believed bringing Rend and Carttoom under my control would be the most difficult part of this enterprise, but now I’m certain that we have no hope of victory unless I can figure out how to best that dark magic user.”

  “You’ll come up with something, Boss, you always do.”

  Leonidas smiled at Shade’s awkward attempt at reassurance. He had a point though. Leonidas always came up with a solution and today would be no different. A non-wizard couldn’t lead the Dark Sages, so he found the one weapon every wizard feared. That was only one of many trials he had overcome to get where he was now.

  Ahead of them the white light streaming into the central tower was like a beacon in the night. The moment he saw it, Leonidas knew what he had to do. The risk was incredible, but he saw no other path. He’d lost the fight because he ran out of magical power. But if he fought in the tower, he’d have all the magic he could ever want to draw on. Somehow, he needed to lure the dark magic user to the tower and fight him there. Who was he kidding? Getting into the tower had been his enemies’ plan from the start. All he had to do was wait for them to show up.

  “Looks like Rondo ran into some trouble,” Shade said.

  Leonidas started to land. As they got closer, he saw what Shade had already noticed. Rondo was lying on the ground with Polymus sprawled on top of him. Looked like he had to use the paralyzing potion. Disappointing but hardly a surprise. Leonidas knew Polymus still harbored ambitions. Leaving him behind had been a test of loyalty and he failed miserably.

  They landed and Shade walked over to the pair shaking his head. “What the hell happened to you?”

  Neither was capable of speech and wouldn’t be until the effects of the potion ran out or Domina administered the antidote. Leonidas drew magic from the tower until his ring was fully charged.

  “I’ll take them inside.” Leonidas conjured a disk under the pair and lifted them. “Wait out here for Domina and Jax.”

  Shade nodded and Leonidas left him alone. In the tower, he dumped Rondo and Polymus on the floor and went up to the throne room. Ariel remained seated on the throne where he left her, staring straight ahead but seeming to see nothing. The crown was slightly askew on her head so he adjusted it.

  “You were supposed to be the ultimate weapon. And you did a fine job burning two cities to the ground, but your skill at individual combat is lacking. I guess it’s too much to hope for a child with no experience in battle to be a master at controlling dragons in an airborne brawl.”

  It was st
range talking to her but getting no response, not even an eyebrow twitch. Unless he gave her a command, she just sat there staring, like a doll.

  “What am I going to do with your creator? He seems determined to betray me at every opportunity. He still holds valuable knowledge, but I’m starting to think getting it might be more trouble than it’s worth.”

  The good thing about talking to Ariel was at least she didn’t offer any stupid advice. Or intelligent advice for that matter.

  In the lower chamber the door slammed shut. Jax and Domina must have returned. Hopefully they had better luck than he and Shade. Leonidas glided down to the bottom floor and found the rest of his cadre gathered around the frozen forms of Rondo and Polymus.

  “I see the paralytic worked,” Domina said.

  “Indeed. Do you have a reversing agent for Rondo?” Leonidas asked. “I’d like to find out what happened before Polymus gets free.”

  “Of course, though it seems a waste to use it on a fool too stupid to avoid the backsplash of his own attack.” Domina dug a vial out of her satchel and poured three drops of a thick, dark liquid on Rondo’s head. He immediately shuddered and groaned.

  “Looks like he might need a few minutes,” Leonidas said. “How did you two make out on your raid?”

  “We slaughtered them,” Domina said with obvious delight.

  Leonidas glanced at Jax. “All of them?”

  “I believe so, though in the chaos of the attack, it is possible one or two might have escaped. At the very least they are no longer a threat.”

  “I’m sure you and Shade eliminated the fools from Rend down to the last bard,” Domina said.

  “No.” It pained Leonidas to admit it, but if he couldn’t speak frankly with his most loyal followers, then who could he speak with? “The dark wizard was with them. My ring can’t absorb his magic.”

  Jax drew in a sharp breath and Domina stared. He knew just how they felt.

  “How is that possible?” Jax asked. “Everything I’ve read indicates the Black Ring can absorb any type of magic.”

  “My research agrees,” Leonidas said. “However, the reality is what it is. We can’t rely on my power until we have eliminated the dark magic user.”

  “Then let’s go eliminate him.” Domina turned as though planning to murder the man right that second.

  Leonidas appreciated her enthusiasm. “A fine thought, dear Domina, but I fear this enemy is beyond even your considerable skills.”

  “What are we going to do?” Jax asked.

  “Simple, we’re going to let the enemy come to us. They want to enter the tower and in here, I’ll have access to the unlimited power of the spires. With that much energy at my disposal, I believe I can wear him down during a drawn-out fight.”

  “Risky,” Jax said.

  “Indeed, but I see no other way.”

  Rondo finally forced himself to his feet. “How long was I out?”

  “Fifteen, twenty minutes maybe,” Shade said. “What happened?”

  “Polymus offered to make me his second-in-command if I’d let him take control of the tower. When I refused, he pulled a dagger and I doused him with the potion. He collapsed on my legs and some of the potion soaked through my pants.”

  “You weren’t tempted?” Leonidas asked.

  “Sure I was, but I don’t trust Polymus. He’d be more apt to kill me as soon as he didn’t need me anymore. I almost forgot; he claims he’s been leading Domina down a false path in regard to the immortality potion. Figured you’d want to know.”

  Leonidas stared down at Polymus. The former prince was definitely a liability. However, there might be another way to extract the information he needed. A less pleasant one for Polymus for sure, but he’d earned whatever Leonidas decided to do with him.

  “Lock the traitor up somewhere secure,” Leonidas said. “Once we’ve dealt with our current problems, I will drain every drop of information he’s hiding in that immortal brain of his.

  Polymus chose that moment to let out a long, pained sigh. He’d be screaming before Leonidas was finished with him.

  Chapter 18

  Yaz powered northeast through the crisp morning air. The sun shone down bright and warm, and the first signs of spring were in the air. Not that he had time to enjoy them. After the first sound night’s sleep he’d had in what seemed a long time he’d taken off to try and deactivate the first tower. Assuming Silas’s translation was correct, it should be simple enough.

  He smiled to himself. Nothing had been simple since he and Brigid set out from Dragonspire Village what felt like a lifetime ago. Maybe he was due. If everything went well, he should have all the towers deactivated by dark tonight. With that in mind, the others were sneaking into position around the tower. Everyone should be ready to strike when he returned.

  At least finding the other towers was simple. All he had to do was follow the flow of magical energy back to its source.

  After an hour or so of flying at maximum speed, the terrain changed from fields to a massive, old-growth forest. Some of the trees nearly rivaled the towers itself in size. Yaz had never seen anything like them.

  Not that he had time for sightseeing. The tower loomed directly ahead, magical energy pouring out of it like lightning. He spotted a likely gap between the trees and landed in the clearing surrounding the tower. Standing in his way was a little old woman dressed in brown robes festooned with herb bundles and other fetishes. Not exactly what he’d expected to find protecting the tower.

  “Good morning, Grandmother,” Yaz said.

  She peered at him through narrow eyes. “What master do you serve?”

  What an odd question. “I serve no master. I just need to turn off the tower and I’ll be on my way.”

  “You are not allied with the evil ones that threatened to destroy my forest?”

  “If you mean the Dark Sages, then absolutely not. They’re my enemies, but to reach them I need to deactivate the towers, so if you’ll excuse me.”

  He took a step toward the dragonspire. Instantly a wall of vines exploded out of the ground between him and the entrance.

  Yaz looked again at the old woman and raised an eyebrow. Clearly, she wasn’t just a hermit.

  “You say you are not with the evil ones, yet your power draws from the vilest source in existence. How can I trust your word?”

  What a dreadful way to describe me. I’m not a vile source of power, I’m the first source. This stupid forest spirit thinks she’s ancient, but she’s a babe at the breast compared to me.

  The voice in his mind startled Yaz, but he covered it by scratching his head. “I don’t know what to tell you. I’d prefer not to fight, but I need to get in there. As to my power, it wasn’t my choice to use it. I was injected with this black stuff when I was little and now it’s a part of who I am.”

  That wasn’t strictly an accurate description of how he came to be, but given his time restrictions, Yaz figured it was close enough.

  “You survived being injected with the essence of the void? That doesn’t seem possible.”

  “Like I said, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m on a tight schedule so I need you to either let me through or I’m going to let myself through.”

  “Whatever else you might be, you are clearly not with the other evil ones. For now, that is enough. Should you become a threat to my forest in the future, I can always eliminate you then.”

  The old woman sank into the ground and vanished. A moment later the wall of vines disappeared as well. Yaz hurried over to the tower and was relieved to find a familiar grid of runes.

  The arrogant speck! I could tell you ten ways to destroy her. Imagine having the nerve to threaten someone with access to my power. We should kill her just to set an example.

  “Could you focus?” Yaz finished punching in the combination and the door opened a few inches. “We’ve got enough to worry about without antagonizing forest spirits. Once we’ve dealt with the tower, I hope to never see this place again.”
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  Have it your way. But don’t blame me if you become known as a pushover.

  “I’m willing to risk it.” Yaz pulled the door open and stepped inside.

  The whole lower level was empty. After all the shelves and books in the tower back home, the empty space felt strange. The glowing sigil in the center lit the walls with a strange bluish light so there were no shadows for someone or something to hide in.

  Yaz shrugged and walked over to the sigil. Time to see if Silas’s translation was correct. If it wasn’t, he had no idea what his next move would be.

  If he were an egomaniacal would-be emperor, would he start at the top or bottom when drawing an activation sigil? The top of course.

  Your problem is you don’t have enough ego. With my power coursing through you, you are now stronger than any human in the world and many of the younger dragons. Yet you don’t seem especially pleased.

  “Could you shut up? I’m trying to concentrate.” Yaz raised his hand then lowered it again. “For the record, I didn’t want great power. But now that I have it, my only desire is to use it to keep my mom and my friends safe. That’s it.”

  Pathetic.

  Yaz waited but no further comment appeared forthcoming. That suited him fine.

  He pointed at the base of the sigil and focused on deactivating it. As he traced through the air, the light dimmed. When he finished, the sigil was gone.

  Well, that went well enough. Outside, he sealed the door and looked up. No power emerged from the top of the spire. One down, three to go.

  Yaz took to the air. When he was level with the metal rod sticking out of the dragon’s mouth, he conjured a blade of darkness and sliced it off. The three-foot length of steel fell to earth and stuck. No one would be reactivating the tower this time.

  That taken care of, he turned his sights to the south. Hopefully switching off the second tower would go as smoothly as the first.