Dragon Quest Novel

by Melania Zveja

  "I agree with Ron," said Alice. "We spent our entire lives cooped up on that island! Now I've seen the whole wide world! I remember ever since I was little I dreamed of going on a journey around the world."

  "If that is your wish, Ron, I think you'd be able to find work wherever you want to," said Suzanne. "Like you've been saying, we've earned a lot of respect from all of this. Why, people will be lining up to make use of your skills!"

  "How about you, Susie? Are you going to stay in Aliahan?" asked Ron.

  "I don't know. I don't even know what skills I can use," answered Suzanne.

  "Are you kidding?" asked Ron, shocked. "You led a group of warriors to victory against an Archfiend! Your ability to command will be highly sought after!"

  "But I don't think that's what I want to do," said Suzanne, suddenly sounding exhausted. "I'm tired of all the fighting. When my father left Aliahan I wanted to be like him, to do some good for the world. When I found out he died my one wish was to finish what he started. Now that's all over. I've seen the reality of it all now: all the blood, pain, and death. I'm proud that we accomplished what we did. And if I had to do it all over again I wouldn't hesitate. But I'm glad it's over. I never wanted to be a hero."

  "You'll find something," said Thomas. "Something you want to do."

  "So what about you, Tom?" asked Alice. "I'm guessing you'll want to work in a healing house somewhere. Are you going to stay in Aliahan?"

  "I haven't decided yet," answered Thomas.

  "Well, all the more reason to go on a vacation!" said Alice enthusiastically. "We can travel across the world and decide what place suits us the best!"

  "You know, we never did celebrate your birthday," noted Suzanne. "I think it's only right if you decide where we go first."

  "I say you should have us go to the imperial capital!" said Ron excitedly.

  "Excuse me, I believe Susie said I would get to choose!" answered Alice. "And the empire will be our last stop. Can't have you blowing our leftover funds so soon! We'll have to put the rest of the vacation on hold and get jobs right away!"

  "Hey, I've learned a lot about monsters over the course of our adventure!" protested Ron. "I think I would actually gain us money!"

  "I have a suggestion," said Thomas. "While you put some money on the monster arena the rest of us can wager on if you're right or not. And if we win that's less money that's part of your share."

  "Now, Tom, that's hardly sporting," said Suzanne. "Is it even a wager if you have a 100% chance of winning? Ron will be out of money by the third match!"

  "I fail to see the problem," answered Thomas.

  "You guys are jerks!" said Ron, though he shared a laugh with the other three despite himself.

  "I have a message for Ron!" said a voice from behind the heroes. A young man approached the four and handed Ron a scroll. He then excused himself and left. Ron opened the scroll and read it aloud. The group had been invited to return to Aliahan where a party was to be held in their honor.

  "Well that's great! Already we're getting some respect!" exclaimed Ron.

  "Some of us, anyway," muttered Thomas.

  "What do you mean?" asked Ron.

  "Almost anyone who has a message for the four of us has it delivered to Suzanne, our leader," said Thomas. "It would seem the good King Neal either is not aware that she is our leader or that he refuses to acknowledge that fact."

  "Forget it, Tom," said Suzanne. "It doesn't matter. We don't need to look for bad things in every corner. We've seen enough bad things recently. Let's just go back to Aliahan and enjoy ourselves."

  "This is wonderful! I've spent too much time in this armor! It'll be nice to dress up for something!" said Alice.

  "Well, you'll have to keep waiting," said Ron. "We're requested to show up with our arms and armor, at least for an initial ceremony. The king wants everyone to see us in all our heroic glory."

  "So he means to parade us around like a tourist attraction?" asked Thomas. "With how little help he gave us he will undoubtedly tell everyone how our entire quest was officially sponsored by Aliahan."

  "Enough, Tom!" scolded Suzanne. "I know you're not a fan of these sorts of things but we'll go back, make an appearance, and then have some fun. You'll see, it'll be fine!"

  A week and a half after defeating Baramos, the heroes finally returned to Aliahan. They made their return quietly as they wanted to reunite with their families without dealing with crowds of admirers. The next morning, the four made the trip to the castle in their full battle gear. Several bystanders saw the group walking by and whispers began to spread. By the time the four entered the castle a crowd had grown behind them.

  Inside the castle, the heroes were escorted directly up to the throne room. King Neil sat upon his throne in his very best clothes. An honor guard stood on the edges of the red carpet that led up to the throne. In addition to their swords, each member of the guard was carrying a trumpet. As the four approached the king stood up to greet them.

  "Ron, Thomas, Suzanne, and Alice!" greeted the king. "You have done well in defeating the Archfiend Baramos! The entire country sings your praises! Suzanne, you are indeed a true child of Ortega!"

  "We thank you for your praises, Your Majesty," said Suzanne.

  "You have done a great service for the world," continued the king. "And you have also done a great service for Aliahan. With your deeds representing our nation and Aliahan's participation in the war it may be time for us to rejoin the international community and regain the glory our people once held!"

  "That would be wonderful, Your Majesty," replied Suzanne. She thought she could sense Thomas's disdain coming from her side, though she knew he would not show it on his face. The thought amused her.

  "In any case, Aliahan must show its gratitude to its great heroes!" proclaimed the king. "Men, sound the fanfare!"

  The men of the honor guard raised their trumpets and began playing. They played a glorious and uplifting fanfare, the likes of which the four had never heard played in Aliahan. Ceremonies such as these had faded away after the Second Great War.

  "It's too bad you're one of those being honored by this, Ron," said Alice. "Otherwise you could add your musical talents to these guys'."

  "I never learned to play the trumpet," muttered Ron.

  "Well I'm sure they could find a flute part in there for you!" said Alice. "We really need to get you to play the flute more often!"

  Ron muttered something unintelligible in response, a blush coming onto his face.

  "Wow, Ron being shy and bashful!" commented Suzanne. "I thought the world would end before I ever –"

  Suzanne's words were cut off by a deafening noise. The trumpet fanfare ended as all those in the throne room looked around wildly for the source of the noise. There was another loud noise; this one was caused by the roof of the throne room as it came crashing down.

  There was little time to react. All those assembled did their best to drop to the ground and find some sort of cover. Stones, some the size of boulders, came raining down. Suzanne dropped to the ground and could feel several stones raining down on her. They dented her armor and caused a great deal of pain. Worst of all was when a large rock fell directly on one of her legs. The pain caused her to yell out, a yell which was swallowed up by the sounds of the crashing roof and thus unheard.

  Eventually, the roof stopped falling and the throne room was left destroyed. When Suzanne realized that no more stones were falling she immediately cast some healing spells upon herself. Thankfully, her healing skills were sufficient. She was also fortunate not to be pinned underneath any rubble. She managed to dig her way out and surveyed what was left of the throne room.

  The majority of the roof had fallen onto the floor below. There were only a few pieces near the corners of the room that had stayed. Furthermore, the collapsing roof had put a great deal of pressure on the floor, causing one large hole to open up, causing further damage on the floor below. Without the loud rumble of the crumbling roof the moans and
screams of the wounded could now be heard.

  Suzanne began clearing away rubble and helping the people trapped underneath. Many had been killed by the falling roof. Suzanne healed those that had survived. Unfortunately, the members of the honor guard had not worn armor meant for battle as the four had; many of them had been killed. Those that Suzanne was able to save helped her in her search. After some time, Suzanne was relieved when she saw Thomas emerge from underneath the rubble. He needed no commands, he immediately set forth in trying to find and help the survivors.

  A small explosion came from near the center of the room. Suzanne and Thomas immediately drew their weapons to face the threat. However, it turned out to be Alice. Alice had been trapped underneath a large stone and had carefully cast a spell to destroy it; casting her spell so as not to compromise the integrity of the room any further.

  "Where's Ron?" asked Alice.

  "We don't know. He must still be underneath somewhere. We have to search for survivors," answered Suzanne.

  Alice helped Suzanne and Thomas dig through the destruction. After some time, they managed to find Ron. He had been grievously wounded by a blow to the head. Had he not been wearing his helmet he would surely have died. As it was, he was barely clinging to life. Thomas immediately set to work.

  Thomas cast his most powerful healing spell. A beam of light came down from the sky, now visible without a roof to block it. But the beam of light failed to reach Ron. He tried again, only for the light to again fail. He tried a third time and once again met with failure.

  "Damn it!" cursed Thomas. "I'm losing him! Something is interfering with this spell!"

  "Keep trying Tom!" said Suzanne. "You can do this!"

  Thomas tried for the fourth time. For the fourth time, the beam of light simply could not make it to Ron.

  "Come on, Tom!" pleaded Alice. "You can't let Ron die!"

  "My magic isn't working," muttered Thomas.

  "It must!" said Suzanne. "You're Ron's only hope!"

  It was then that Thomas remembered something. He stopped casting his spell on Ron and began digging through his belongings.

  "What are you doing!?" demanded Alice.

  "The leaf of the World Tree!" answered Thomas. "My most powerful spell is being interfered with! I don't know how but I know it is! But the leaf should still work!"

  Thomas found the leaf of the World Tree. He found a flat surface and took the bottom of his sword and crushed the leaf. He then sprinkled the pieces onto Ron's wounds. The effect was miraculous. The large gash on Ron's head closed up and he stopped bleeding. Once Thomas had used up all of the leaf he cast his other healing spells on Ron. Thankfully, Thomas's regular healing spells continued to function correctly.

  "What happened?" asked Ron as he came to. "Where am I?"

  "The throne room in Aliahan Castle," answered Suzanne. "Or what's left of it. The roof came crashing down. We've been trying to search for survivors but there's been no sign of what caused all of this."

  Suddenly the sky became dark. A few moments ago, the morning sun had still been rising into the sky. Now it was dark as night. From out of nowhere, an unearthly voice was heard. The voice spoke inside the group's minds, similar to Ramia. But while Ramia's voice was beautiful and gentle, this voice was terrible and revolting.

  I am Zoma, Master Archfiend who rules the dark realms, stated the voice. It seemed as though it was speaking some horrible, unknown language even though all four could understand what it was saying. By the powers I possess, before long, this world too will be locked in darkness. Anguish and suffering be yours! It is your suffering that brings me joy! As if to punctuate its point, the horrific voice began to laugh a mirthless, mocking laugh and then faded away.

  Chapter 32: An Otherworldly Threat

  "We must not let anyone know what has happened here," said King Neal, fear showing clearly in his voice. "If the people knew it would start a panic."

  "Your Majesty, we must tell the people what has happened," argued Suzanne. "They have to know that the threat is not over."

  "No!" declared the king. "Absolutely not!"

  "The entire kingdom must know about the damage the castle has taken," persisted Suzanne. "They will have questions. Letting the people guess at the answers will incite even more of a panic."

  "I have made arrangements for that," answered the king. "I have some of the land's finest craftsmen and stonemasons examining the damage. They will declare that the castle was not structurally sound. This will put to rest any rumors and bring peace to the people."

  "Your Majesty, we just fought in a terrible battle for the survival of all mankind," said Suzanne. "A battle made worse because mankind refused to face the truth until it was almost too late. With all due respect, would you have us make the same mistake again so soon?"

  "That is enough!" said King Neal, now angry. "All of this is your fault! This Zoma, whatever it is, targeted us because of you! I should have never allowed you to break the seal. I should have never allowed you to say you were from Aliahan. You have brought evil back with you! Aliahan had prospered under the seal!"

  "Sire, Aliahan has been in decline for decades now," replied Suzanne. "You yourself had been saying how wonderful it would be to rejoin the world."

  "Silence!" yelled King Neal. "I will have no more talk from you, woman! We will do as we always have. We will cut ourselves off from the world and not participate in the world's problems."

  It was all Suzanne could do to keep from yelling back at the monarch. "Very well, Your Majesty," she replied with a guarded voice. "So then Aliahan will not join the fight against this new threat."

  "No and neither will you, if you know what's good for you," growled the king. "I am warning you, daughter of Ortega, not to venture out on this fool quest of yours again. If you do you and any who accompany you can no longer claim to be of Aliahan. You will be banished from this great land. Do you understand me?"

  Suzanne was surprised by the turn of events. After a pause she said, "I understand, Your Majesty." Then she left the king's presence.

  Suzanne met up with Ron, Thomas, and Alice and relayed the king's ultimatum. The three were shocked to hear of such passionate opposition from the king.

  "Bah!" scoffed Alice. "He's an idiot! Danger creeps right into his very home and he thinks he can hide from it! It's just like before we fought against Baramos! When are these rulers going to learn that hiding under the bed isn't going to make the big bad monster go away?"

  "He's delirious too," muttered Thomas. "There was a crowd of people who witnessed the attack on the castle. They report great bolts of lightning causing the destruction. How do you explain that away as structural problems?"

  "You've spoken with witnesses? Did they see what caused the attack?" asked Suzanne.

  "No," replied Ron. "Nobody saw anything like that. Everyone was so focused on us and what was going on in the castle that I wouldn't be surprised if the attacker was in their midst. We've seen humans ally themselves with Baramos. There could have been a traitor in the crowd."

  "A powerful traitor to be able to cause so much destruction," mused Alice.

  "That's what worries me," said Suzanne. "Whoever, or whatever, did this managed to cause a lot of damage and escape detection. What's to stop them from doing it again?"

  "That's usually where we come in," said Ron with a grin.

  "Are you sure, Ron?" asked Suzanne. "I told you what the king said. He wants nothing to do with this new threat. If he finds out we're trying to find out about this Zoma he will be far from happy. And if we leave we're banished. Are you prepared for that, Ron? What about you, Thomas? And you, Alice? Are you all ready for the consequences?"

  "It'll be tough leaving my family and friends here," admitted Ron. "But it'd be even tougher just waiting around for something to happen. And besides, if we bust up this new threat I'll bet the king will let us back in!"

  "Don't be so sure," cautioned Thomas. "We're already credited with killing an Archfiend and that has
only made the king blame us more."

  "I know," said Ron. "Still, I can't sit around while there's still a threat. I'm in!"

  "Ron's right," agreed Alice. "I'll miss my family but it's more important to protect them. Based on what I've heard of this attack I can think of no way to guard against another one by staying here. The only way to protect my family and Aliahan is to take out whatever's responsible for all this. I'm in too!"

  "As am I," said Thomas. "I've been prepared for consequences like these since I first joined you, Susie."

  "Thanks everyone," said Suzanne. "We need not leave just yet. We have little idea what we're dealing with, after all. I'm going to try and find Ramia. This Zoma claims to be a Master Archfiend. No monster's dared make that claim since the First Great War. Ramia fought in that war. I know Ramia doesn't have a lot of memories from her past life but she may still know something. I'll bring her here."

  "By yourself?" asked Ron.

  "We need to bring Ramia here to try and examine the damage as well as investigate any residual magic effects," said Suzanne. "That means we have to be able to return. The king may be paranoid of any of us leaving. He may even send out men to make sure we're still here. I need the three of you here to cover for me just in case His Majesty starts sniffing around."

  "I'm coming with you," declared Thomas. "I agree with His Majesty on one thing: the attackers targeted Aliahan because of us. I know you're quite capable Susie but we've seen the power our foes wield. It's too dangerous for any of us to be alone now."

  "But that means we'd have to cover for both of you," said Alice.

  "It'll be fine," said Ron. "Tom's not exactly a social butterfly. No offense, Tom. Nobody will question not seeing him for some time. We really only need to cover for Susie."

  "But I agree that both of us being absent for a long period of time will make it more suspicious," said Suzanne. "If we haven't found Ramia in a week we'll teleport back to Aliahan to make some appearances."