The Wrath

by D Glenn Casey

  “I’m sorry if I spoke out of turn, sire.”

  “Nonsense, captain. You are looking out for the best interests of this group and I applaud you for that.”

  “What do you really think we’ll find at the gates?”

  “I think we shall find something that will surprise all of us. I do not think we’re walking toward anything that will cause us harm.”

  They went silent for the rest of the night. Jong moved up and down the line, checking on his men and offering encouragement to the others. He made sure to take some extra time to talk with any of the children that worked up the courage to talk to the tall soldier.

  He thought of his own kids and hoped they were making it through this time safely. Before he and Cryssn had left to make the journey to Rosemoor, their children had been sent to stay with his parents. He was sure they had left their small village and journeyed into the wilderness to the west when the war started getting closer to their home.

  Once he got these people to safety and settled, he thought he might leave and head home and see what was what. He was pretty sure the other six royals with him would probably go with him when the time came, to check on their own families.

  ~~~~

  As the sun began to rise in the east, it cast a golden light on the massive gates guarding the entrance to the Land of the Dragons. The gates were closed and locked up tight. There were no guards visible and appeared to be no way to get past them.

  The group stood in the small clearing at the end of the road that ran under the gates, looking up to the top. The gates were built into an opening in the mountain that had been cut just for them and the people saw a raging storm above their heads. Lightning and thunder crashed all around the mountain top and everyone knew that the stories of the never-ending storm were true. No one got into the Land of the Dragons unless the gates were opened and they were allowed in.

  Claudious walked to a spot just short of the gates and bowed his head and closed his eyes. He breathed slowly, sending his thoughts to the other side of the gates, hoping someone was listening. He tapped his staff a couple of times on the ground and the crystal on top began to glow. He stood there for close to half an hour without any sign he was being heard.

  The group behind him began to grow restless, some fearing they were about to be told they were heading for the Southern Desert. Though not nearly as inhospitable as the Eastern Desert, it was still a desert and not the first choice most people would make when thinking of a place to live.

  Pendivall just stood quietly toward the back of the group, not betraying any thoughts about the matter. He was willing to stand there all day if necessary, but standing out in the open like this once the sun was fully risen wouldn’t be a prudent thing to do.

  The group could feel the cold of the storm raging over their heads and mothers began to pull heavier clothing out of their bags to wrap their children to keep them warm.

  At the one hour mark, Pendivall walked forward and had a few words with his friend and Claudious turned and walked back to the group and sat down on a rock. He was clearly worn down by the effort he had been putting in, trying to communicate with anyone willing to listen on the other side of the barrier.

  Pendivall took his place and began communing in the same way Claudious had. Pendivall wanted the gates to open because, in the eight hundred years since he had gone through his trials in this land, he had never returned for a visit. He was one of the wizards, about whom stories were told, stories about how he came very close to losing his life during his trials. Even more so than Garlan had. When it came time for him to leave the Land of the Dragons, he couldn’t walk away fast enough.

  Now he was back, hoping they would open the gates for him.

  Half an hour.

  Nothing.

  Three quarters of an hour.

  Nothing.

  At the one hour mark, Claudious stood up and walked forward, ready to relieve his friend. He stepped up beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

  “I wouldn’t have thought it was going to take this long to get an answer.”

  Pendivall looked at him, clearly spent from the exertion.

  He was just about to say something along the lines of maybe starting toward the Southern Desert, when there was a loud clanging coming from the gates. After a few more bangs and some metal-on-metal groaning, the gates began to slowly open. The two wizards stood right where they were as the gates swung open in front of them.

  The group behind them gasped in unison as they all came face-to-face with a large, white dragon. As the great beast clambered through the gate, his large, clawed feet pounded on the ground, sending shock waves through the earth, the people began backing up, not sure if the Southern Desert was such a bad idea. The desert was looking better with every step the giant dragon took.

  Pendivall and Claudious just stood their ground, not showing any indication they were going to move. When the beast came to stop just in front of them, he craned his neck down and looked them both right in the eyes.

  Claudious straightened up and said, “Well?”

  The dragon’s eyes grew narrower as they formed angry slits. Then he harrumphed and looked around behind himself. A large group of people started pouring through the gates and around the dragon and moving to the group of refugees, helping them to gather their things and get ready to move through the gates.

  Pendivall turned and addressed the group.

  “My friends, these are the people of the village of Kraeling, the only village in the Land of the Dragons.”

  “For the time being,” growled Mirroth.

  Pendivall stopped and looked at him.

  “We’ll discuss it in a moment,” said the large dragon.

  “Hmm.” said Pendivall as he turned back to the group.

  “And our rather large friend here, for those of you who don’t know, is Mirroth the White, the king of the dragons, which also makes him the king of the Land of the Dragons. It is with his permission that we are being allowed through the gates.”

  As the group started moving toward the gates, being assisted by the people of Kraeling, they all stopped and offered their thanks to Mirroth and he graciously nodded to each of them.

  As the last of the group moved through the gates, Mirroth turned and looked at the two wizards.

  “Just so you know, it was the missus that sent me down here to open the gate.”

  “You mean you weren’t going to let us in?” asked Pendivall.

  “I would have, but I was going to make you wait a couple of days,’ said Mirroth with a low, rumbling laugh.

  “Well then,” said Claudious, “when I see Shyla I’m going to have to give her a big kiss on the nose for getting you in line.”

  Mirroth sighed with a loud grumble.

  “What was it we needed to discuss?” asked Pendivall.

  “The village of Kraeling is small and can’t support this group of people for very long. After a few days, your group is going to move south and will begin to build their own settlement.”

  Then he looked behind the wizards and they turned around. Captain Jong and his men were standing there.

  “Master Mirroth, can we assume that these people are now safe, having reached the gates of this fine land?”

  “Yes, captain, they are safe.”

  Captain Jong looked at the two wizards and said, “With your leave, sires, we would like to make the journey to our home land and check on our families.”

  The two wizards stepped forward and held out their hands to him.

  “Captain, go and make sure your loved ones are safe.” said Claudious. “It will be quite some time before we are ready to take the war back to Kerrick.”

  Jong nodded to him and then he looked at Mirroth.

  “When we are ready to return, will we be allowed through the gates?”

  “These gates may not be open again for quite some time.” said Mirroth. “Are you familiar with the Ice Pass?”

  “Yes, I am.” />
  “That will be your way back into this land, if you should decide to return.”

  Jong nodded silently. The Ice Pass was not a mountain pass to be trifled with. Not even for the royals.

  Claudious looked at Mirroth.

  “Any reason you would force them to enter that way?”

  “These gates are going to be closed, maybe forever. The Ice Pass will be closest to the new village that your group is going to build.”

  “So,” asked Pendivall, “we’re going to be living at the far, southern end of the lake?”

  “That is correct.” said Mirroth. “Right in the middle of the dragons.”

  Claudious raised his eyebrows as he looked at Mirroth, then Pendivall and then at Jong and the royals.

  “Sounds like fun!”

  Chapter 34 ~ You’re Going Home, Brother

  The flight over the Eastern Desert took almost six hours and there wasn’t anywhere for them to land and take a break. By the time they reached the far side of the desert, Venia was beginning to feel tired and Hilde could hear it in her breathing. Though Venia would never admit it, she couldn’t fly all day and night without taking time to rest.

  Coming down on the eastern side of the mountains, into the plains of Gallyneer, they discovered a small field near a lake, where they landed and decided to spend the night. Neither one wanted to try finding Mistburn in the dark and bearing the body of Symon home in the middle of the night didn’t seem to be the proper choice.

  After setting down, Venia spent a few minutes filling her stomach with cool water from the lake. Hilde pulled some food from her travel bag and sat down under a tree to eat. She watched her friend quenching her thirst and felt like she was the most fortunate person in the world to enjoy a friend like her.

  Venia turned around and looked at her.

  “I am going to find some food for myself. There should be some deer in those woods over there.”

  Hilde nodded to her and wished her good hunting. She looked around as Venia took to the sky. In the fading light of day, she could see Gallyneer was quite different than Wyndweir. Where Wyndweir was mostly undulating hills with forests and lakes, Gallyneer was rolling grasslands as far as the eye could see. There were occasional outcroppings of trees and some lakes here and there, but it was mostly tall grasses that waved in the evening breeze.

  Hilde walked over to a small tree and sat down on the ground. It had been days since she had had a good night’s sleep and could feel the drowsiness settling over her. As she sat there, she thought about the mission she was on, thinking about her brother-in-law again and how he had given his life to liberate a land and defend a people that weren’t even his own.

  “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

  She closed her eyes and leaned back against the tree and before she had time to even think about it, she was asleep and dreaming of better days. Dreaming of the previous year and of discovering the man of her dreams. She could see his face in her mind and it offered her comfort and the feeling that he was still alive.

  Later in the early hours of the morning, she was awakened by the sound of twigs breaking and someone trying to step very carefully and quietly around her. She very gradually reached for her sword and wrapped her fingers around the hilt. She opened her eyes and looked around without turning her head. She couldn’t see anything in the darkness.

  She thought she might have imagined it until she felt a cold, steel blade of a sword press against her throat.

  “Take your hands off that sword, soldier.”

  She relaxed her grip on the sword. She turned her head slowly so that she didn’t make any sudden movements, to see who it was that had been able to sneak up on her. What she saw, looming in the darkness, was an unexpected surprise to her. Holding the sword to her throat was a gray old man, with hair down to his shoulders and dark brown eyes. Even though he was old, she could tell that he knew how to handle a blade and was not about to test his abilities. She lifted her hands to show she had no intention of challenging him.

  “Easy now, old-timer,” she said.

  “Old-timer?” said the old man.

  She went to stand up slowly, so that she didn’t push him in any way. As she stood up she saw he was at least a foot shorter than her.

  “Well, you are older than me,” She said with a smile.

  “Well, that may be true, but I can take you if I have to.”

  She smiled and said, “I do not doubt that, so I have no intention of giving you reason to do so.”

  She kept her hands up until he began relaxing and after a few seconds he put his sword away.

  “So what brings a soldier of Wyndweir to the land of Gallyneer?”

  “I am delivering my brother-in-law to his wife. He fell in battle a few days ago at Rosemoor and this is just something I need to do.”

  The old man looked around, but didn’t see anything.”

  “Is this brother of yours invisible?”

  “No, he’s just not here right now.”

  “Really? So he’s just gone for a little walk. What, to stretch his legs, lassie?”

  “No,” she said, stifling a pained giggle. Knowing Symon was still dead made laughing seem so out of place.

  “I should hope not. That would be a pretty neat trick for a dead man.”

  Just then she heard the sound of dragon wings slicing through the air and she looked up and saw Venia circling overhead. She directed a thought to Venia to wait a minute or two before coming down.

  “I’m beginning to think you’re enjoying a little bit of fun with an old man.”

  “Not at all, sire.”

  “Okay, so let’s say I believe you and you do have a dead body around here. Am I also supposed to believe you’ve carried his body all the way from Wyndweir?”

  “Well, no. I had help.”

  The man looked around again, this time placing his hand back on his sword, wondering who else was lurking about that he might have to defend himself against.

  Hilde reached out and placed a hand on his and said, “You have no reason to fear me or anyone else right now. You are in no danger.”

  Then she pointed up into the sky and when the old man looked up he gasped and fell to his knees. Crossing in front of the full moon was the unmistakable form of a dragon.

  “Oh, Mother Earth protect me.”

  Hilde reached down and placed a hand underneath his arm to help him back up and said, “You were ready to take on a soldier of Wyndweir, but you’re scared of a little dragon?”

  “M’lady, I can handle a soldier of Wyndweir, but I’m not quite sure I can handle a fire-breathing dragon,” he said with a very trembling voice.

  Hilde laughed a little and put an arm around his shoulders and said, “She’s really just a big pussycat.”

  Then Hilde signaled to Venia to go ahead and come down. The green dragon made a couple more circles and then dove down and landed just in front of the two.

  “Venia, I’d like to introduce ... I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.”

  The old man choked out, “Henry, m’lady.”

  “Venia, this is Henry. Henry, this is my friend, Venia.”

  The old man looked into the golden eyes of the green dragon as she lowered her head and looked at him and immediately he began to relax. He really did see a large green dragon in front of him, but he could also see there was some kindness in her eyes.

  He looked to Venia’s back and saw the body lashed to her spine and began to feel a bit sorry for questioning this pretty redheaded lady.

  “Who is that?”

  “His name is Symon. He is the brother of my husband, Jarell of Greenvale Castle.”

  “Symon, brother of Jarell,” he said softly to himself.

  The old man turned back to Hilde and looked her in the eyes.

  “He is the husband of Laurelai of Mistburn.”

  “You knew him?” asked Hilde.

  “I’ve met him a couple of times. He was such a good man and always trea
ted everyone around him fairly. This is going to be devastating to his wife and children.”

  “He was a good man. I had only known him for a few months, but I could see that.”

  “So, you fought beside him in the battle against the dark wizard? Are you a bowmaiden? Those bowmaidens are the fiercest warriors.”

  Hilde smiled at him and said, “I am a bowmaiden, but actually more than that. I am what we call a dragon rider.”

  “A dragon rider? As I recall from the stories I’ve heard, the dragons didn’t like having anyone riding on them.”

  Hilde looked at Venia with a questioning look.

  Venia said, “This is true, Hilde. It used to be we wouldn’t let people ride on us. We somehow felt it demeaned us to be used for transportation.”

  Hilde’s eyebrows went up.

  “I hope you don’t think I look at you that way.”

  “Absolutely not,” said Venia.

  “So, what changed?”

  “We came to realize that, maybe the reason dragons were chased from the land of Wyndweir and into what is now the Land of the Dragons was because we tended to believe we were above the humans. It was decided before getting involved with this war, we would change that. If we were to take on riders and start working closely with the humans, we would change their attitudes about us.”

  Hilde stepped up in front of Venia and reached out and ran her hand over her face.

  “I like your attitude just the way it is, sweetheart. You are a fierce, strong warrior and I wouldn’t change anything about you.”

  Venia leaned forward and ran her nose alongside Hilde’s face.

  “We want to come back from the Land of the Dragons and be welcomed among the humans again.”

  “After this war is over, I will fight for you and the dragons and for your return to our lands.”

  She turned back and looked at Henry.

  “Anyway, Symon fell at the battle of Rosemoor and now I need to return his body to his home. I think he would have wanted that.”