The Dragon's Revenge

by Conor Kostick

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘No doubt you are familiar with the argument that the epic journey of Frodo and Sam in The Lord of the Rings could have been avoided by having an eagle drop the ring into Sammath Naur, the Cracks of Doom.’ My contemplation of the landscape was interrupted by Raitha’s cheerful voice.

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘I am?’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘Well, it occurs to me now that this is what it might have felt like to have been such an eagle, on such a mission.’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘I can’t summon up the same feeling. But perhaps being a giant bat, I’m not so Tolkienesque.’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘Well, indeed, you are a far less noble a creature.’

  I could imagine Raitha, preening himself as he said this.

  I said, [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘There is something of that feeling in this situation, of being two hobbits braving a terrible foe. I’ll grant you that.’

  Raitha chuckled. [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘And when you make that association, do you see yourself as Frodo or Sam?’

  I thought about this for a moment. [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘Frodo. Mainly because the ring gave him extra powers, like invisibility, that Sam didn’t have. It’s a bit like that with my vampire condition.’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘I agree. And I am quite happy to be cast as Sam, for in my opinion, Sam is the main hero of that story. While kings and wizards played out their role front of stage, it was the indomitable loyalty of Sam in the background that won the day. Less glamourous than leading a cavalry charge but more determined than the roots of this mountain. And…’ he added, ‘Sam was the only person to carry the ring to survive the experience unscathed.’

  Once Raitha had begun talking, he could chat away for hours, whether on matters deep and philosophical or in making observations about popular culture. Fortunately for our friendship, I made a good enough listener to keep pace with the conversations and it was in this way that we had passed the time in our long grinds in Epic.

  Up, up we flew, a giant bat and an eagle, ascending a dark mountain range while chatting to each other. The conversation moved on to the topic of the common etymology of words in Sanskrit and Irish. Unfortunately, my Irish was terrible but from the meagre offerings I gave him, Raitha could find half a dozen related Sanskrit terms and putting them together with excitement, more or less derived the conclusion that he and I were brothers. Not wanting to spoil his fun, I didn’t point out that my father was from Vietnam and my mother, while Irish, with a name like Foster was probably descended from Norman or English settlers.

  After two hours, our following wind died away and was replaced by turbulent swirls of a southward moving front, which swept over us, reducing my vision and throwing sleet and rain upon us. This time, I used my magical cord and it really was a good spell. Good for a rainy night at least. Almost at once, the east wind was at our backs, helping us over ridge after ridge of mountain peaks until at last, three hours into our journey, we had crossed over the highest of them.

  By the time our second magical wind had ended, we were comfortably down from the peaks, looking eagerly for the river that would guide us to where the dragon was supposed to be found. Given that the game had evolved so dramatically from its initial state, I was also preparing myself for the anti-climax that Mikarkathat had moved on. That would also fit with why I had heard no news from the other group.

  ‘There!’ cried Raitha and swerved to his right. Compared to his swift movements, I was a lumbering ox to nimble horse. Still, I beat my wings and hurried after him as best I could. And there indeed, over the next rise, was the silvered, wriggling line that led from the high peaks to the dragon hills. We were close.

  ‘Tyro, my friend, I have a request to make.’

  ‘Oh and what would that be?’

  ‘When we fire our arrows, one of us will have two shots, the other will have one.’

  ‘Ah. A serious request? I thought you were about to make a joke.’

  ‘No. No. I would like to be the person with two shots. I would like to be the one who slays Mikarkathat.’

  ‘Of course. I understand. No problem, I’ll give you them when we are set up in our half-elf form.’ I paused. ‘I’m glad you asked. I had assumed it would be me. But of course it makes no difference. We have the same skill.’

  ‘Thank you. Do you understand why I ask?’

  ‘The fame? The girls?’

  ‘Ahh. You know me too well.’

  As we crested the black line of the next hill, an astonishing spectacle met us. Instead of the rocky caves of a dragon’s lair, which I had been anticipating from my experience of Mikarkathat in Epic, there was a castle, lit with an eerie blue-white light from within, some of which spilled from narrow windows to help us understand what we were looking at. This was no fairy castle, with fanciful turrets and decorative flags, this was built for war. A huge, solid central keep formed part of the far wall, rectangular in base, rising five stories to a crenelated top with a turret on each corner. The rest of the castle was an oval wall, which reached around the grounds like arms extended from the keep, whose fingers met at a strong gatehouse, also rectangular with turrets.

  As we beat our wings and held our position to examine the scene, two winged lizards jumped from the gatehouse and moved rapidly towards us.

  ‘Young dragons?’ offered Raitha.

  I switched to infravision and the details of the incoming creatures leapt out of the night sky in bright white.

  ‘Only two legs. Wyverns.’

  ‘I’m faster than them. Let me lead them away. Go hide.’

  ‘Right.’

  As I dropped to the bank of the river below, Raitha, giving a powerful scream of defiance, rushed down as if to meet our incoming foes, only to swerve to his right just before contact.

  That’s all I saw, as I landed beside a large boulder. Close up, the river was dark, swift and had an ominously troubled surface.

  [Channel Raitha/ Klytotoxos] ‘One is coming back to look for you!’

  Quickly, I flicked off my Giant Bat form and flicked on Invisibility. Then I stood still, heart beating fast as I heard the scrabble of the Wyvern’s claws on the boulder. It had landed directly above me and I could hear the creature snort and blow like a horse as it caught its breath from what must have been an intense sprint. With a heavy thump, it jumped down to the water’s edge and after taking a drink, turned its dragon-like head in my direction. So convinced was I that it could see invisible and me in particular that I nearly triggered Cloud Form, my last trick, but then its searching gaze moved on, and with a supressed shiver, I held still.

  Raitha spoke to me and I found myself wanting him to whisper, even though the mob couldn’t hear him at all on our private channel. [Channel Raitha/ Klytotoxos] ‘It has given up and is returning. You?’

  [Channel Raitha/ Klytotoxos] ‘Still here…wait, no it is leaving,’ I did whisper.

  [Channel Raitha/ Klytotoxos] ‘Well. Now we know why the eagles couldn’t throw the ring into Sammath Naur. The Nazgûl would have intercepted them.’

  [Channel Raitha/ Klytotoxos] ‘That’s one positive. At least we’ve solved that question.’

  [Channel Raitha/ Klytotoxos] ‘What now?’

  [Channel Raitha/ Klytotoxos] ‘I guess I’ll go closer. The wyvern couldn’t see me. I’ve used my Invisibility.’

  [Channel Raitha/ Klytotoxos] ‘Just two more levels and I’ll have the spell,’ said Raitha with a sigh.

  [Channel Raitha/ Klytotoxos] ‘I doubt it will get me inside.’

  [Channel Raitha/ Klytotoxos] ‘Combined with your boots it might.’

  [Channel Raitha/ Klytotoxos] ‘It might.’ With that heartening thought I walked towards the castle, picking my way carefully through piles of rocks that invited a twisted ankle. When I was about three hundred metres from the gatehouse, the terrain became easier, because all the large stones had been cleared to make a killing ground. Even though I was comp
letely silent and invisible, I felt terribly exposed as I crossed towards a dark arch, at the top of which I could see the iron points of a portcullis. Higher still, in the turrets, sat the wyverns, turning their heads and searching the skies.

  As I studied the entrance, something moved above me. It wasn’t Raitha. An armoured dark elf riding a nightmare galloped out of the black sky and straight on through the gate without a pause; the clatter of the horse’s hooves faded rapidly after it had passed me. Not long after the knight had entered the castle, a giant tiger loped out of the gates, grey and white under the moons. Sniffing the air (could it detect me from that distance?) the tiger began to walk away from the castle and then suddenly bounded forward, racing out of sight to the south.

  I really did not fancy walking in through the front door.

  [Channel Raitha/ Klytotoxos] ‘I’m going to use my Cloud Form and float over the west wall. Can you watch out for me and tell me if you see any signs of alarm in the castle?’

  [Channel Raitha/ Klytotoxos] ‘Eagles are good for that. And I’m afraid that’s all I’m good for in this unexpected scenario. My dream of being the dragon slayer cannot be realised. You must do it. Give me a minute to go higher though, I don’t want to trigger those wyverns again.’

  [Channel Raitha/ Klytotoxos] ‘It will take me ten minutes to even reach the walls as a cloud.’

  [Channel Raitha/ Klytotoxos] ‘All right then, so, good luck.’

  Cloud Form and Invisibility stacked: as a silent, floating cloud of invisible particles I moved over the rough ground beneath me. Surely, I was safe from discovery with this combination? I didn’t feel so. Skirting the castle corner and its small tower, I took a run…glide…at the middle of the west wall and helped by the slope at the base, rose up and over. As far as I could tell, I was alone and unwatched. Feeling exposed all the same, I quickly descended the other side.

  A large courtyard; a wagon path in a circle around a mossy, green interior; several stone buildings constructed against the walls on either side, with vines growing up nearly as high as their roofs; and very little motion. Across the green, at the keep (also clad in vines), the nightmare was drinking from a trough. That was the only sign of life. High up on the crenellations of the keep, though, were gargoyles who through my infravision glowed warm in comparison to the stone around them. And pervading the whole castle was a presence, a sense that despite my precautions I was being watched by a silent sentinel.

  Again, I found myself whispering unnecessarily into the private channel [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘Anything?’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘All is still. Not even a mouse. Come to think of it, that is odd. No mice, no ravens…oh, someone is leaving the keep.’

  It was the dark elf knight. With a whistle to his horse, who jumped towards him as though galvanized by a spur, the dark elf grasped the horn of his strong saddle and pulled himself up. They galloped away swiftly and I noted that the nightmare did not start to ascend until it was clear of the castle.

  While I was wondering the meaning of that, I got a most interesting PM request, which I took.

  [Channel Kraken/Klytotoxos] ‘Klytotoxos. Where are you?’

  I didn’t like the curt teacher-like tone, so I said, [Channel Kraken/Klytotoxos] ‘Hello. Is that who I think it is?’

  [Channel Kraken/Klytotoxos] ‘Yes. Where are you?’

  [Channel Kraken/Klytotoxos] ‘Inside the walls of a castle, where I expected to find Mikarkathat. I still do. Where are you?’

  [Channel Kraken/Klytotoxos] ‘You should not be there yet. It takes a Giant Bat another hour at least.’

  [Channel Kraken/Klytotoxos] ‘I’m a little busy here, did you want something?’

  [Channel Kraken/Klytotoxos] ‘Can you kill the dragon?’

  [Channel Kraken/Klytotoxos] ‘Maybe. First I have to find out if she’s in the keep. Then I have to get three shots off.’

  [Channel Kraken/Klytotoxos] ‘I understand. Wait. I am close.’

  [Channel Kraken/Klytotoxos] ‘What happened to your group?’

  [Channel Kraken/Klytotoxos] ‘Dead. Ambushed at the stones.’

  [Channel Kraken/Klytotoxos] ‘I’m waiting.’ Tempting though the idea was of going ahead and getting all the glory, teaming up was the logical thing to do. Six arrows gave us a generous margin for error.

  Silence.

  I switched channels. [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘Time for a game, Raitha.’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘Really?’ he sounded amused. ‘Rather than afterwards? Or when we are in a boring grind?’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘It’s a short guessing game.’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘I am something of an expert at making guesses.’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘Indeed you are. So guess this: who just PMed me?’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘Well now, I think we can rule out almost everyone we know. Because had it been Braja, Sapentia or even Watson, that would not be an interesting enough answer to have prompted you to challenge me. Although, since Watson does not seem to have his own avatar, I take that back. A message from Watson might be the answer.’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘Is that your guess?’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘Of course not, I am just speculating aloud.’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘Carry on then.’

  All the time we were talking, I was surveying the castle, looking for motion in the buildings, on the walls. It remained deep in shadow and utterly quiet.

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘After some consideration I believe the answer is either the man Kiro, who plays in the game as Kraken, or Ketzi, or Blackridge.’ His pause invited my feedback.

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘I’m saying nothing.’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘In that case, it was Kraken.’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘Damn you, Raitha, how did you do that?’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘Elementary, my dear Tyro, it was all a matter of deduction. What did he want?’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘For me to wait so we can do this together. Can you see him approaching?’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘I do not. Outside the castle walls, I see mice, rabbits, voles, foxes, a wolf. No characters.’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘He’ll probably be invisible. Oh, I have him calling now.’

  [Channel Kraken/Klytotoxos] ‘I am on the west wall; where are you, Klytotoxos?’

  [Channel Kraken/Klytotoxos] ‘You can call me Tyro. Everyone else does. I’m floating over the courtyard near the middle of the west wall.’

  [Channel Kraken/Klytotoxos] ‘We shall meet at the door to the keep. Make your way there.’

  At my slow rate of progress, I drifted along the wagon tracks towards the large, iron-clad double doors. Then the castle seemed to fall apart.

  Stopping, somewhat panicked, it took me several seconds to realise what was actually happening. The vines. It was the vines that were in motion, gathering themselves rapidly into an enormous humanoid creature whose hands were stretching towards me. No, not me.

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘Something’s going on down there. There’s a giant in the courtyard now. But I don’t suppose you need me to tell you that.’

  [Channel Kraken/Klytotoxos] ‘Run inside and kill the dragon, quick. I…’

  The fists of the ivy monster closed upon a space and lifted it, then, as if the giant were wielding a hammer or axe, it began to lash its invisible captured victim against the castle wall. No one would survive that for long. Well, perhaps me, if my immunity to weapon damage counted? Was a castle wall blunt weapon damage? Since I couldn’t go any faster than my Cloud Form allowed, I had time for my thoughts to stray.

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘Are you all right?’ my friend asked.

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘That vine monster has Kraken, it probably sensed his footsteps; I’m going into the keep alone.’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos
] ‘Should I try to help him?’

  [Channel Raitha/Klytotoxos] ‘No. As well as the wyverns, there are a dozen gargoyles on the top of the castle. They would tear you apart.’

  [Channel Kraken/Klytotoxos] ‘Aha. I see them.’

  With the creaking and rushing sounds of the vine giant’s movements receding behind me, I slipped through the doors of the keep and into a moonlit hall which was lined by very life-like statues, all of which held actual weapons. Mostly, they reminded me of Mongol warriors: scale-plated armour, composite bows and lances. Only they were all female and all posed so that one hand was supporting the roof. At the far end of the hall, however, where a staircase began, were two statues that were larger than the others and carried two-handed axes. Ogres.

  Silent, invisible and floating, I made my way towards the stairs, right along the middle of the hall. Cautious at first, but with growing confidence, I reached the staircase without triggering these guards, for surely that’s what they were. At a landing with a wide tapestry on the far wall - which depicted a pale dragon flying under the stars - the stairs branched right and left before doubling back. I cast Find Path and Read Tracks and it was immediately apparent that very many people used these stairs and they always took the left branch. The right looked suspiciously pristine. Left then and up to a landing with two more powerful-looking ogre statues, standing before large wooden doors that were closed.

  Outside, I could still hear the sounds of struggle, it was a noise like that of a powerful wind, tearing through treetops.

  Inside my heart, I felt the same level of turmoil. Was this it? Could the dragon be here? Beyond these doors? They were not airtight, so although it took a full minute, I squeezed underneath them and through to the room beyond. I was in a huge solar, one that reached right up to the roof of the keep. At the far end, picked out by a double-beam of silver moonlight (the effect of two moons shining through the tall arrow slit), was a throne on which sat a beautiful, tall woman, in a scintillating blue-and-white dress. In front of the throne was a table and rather like the one in the Den, it had a map on it. The only other person in the room was a witch, who was leaning over a great cauldron, large metal spoon in hand.