It
was almost midday when Rynn and Arokh reached the large wooden gate sealing the
tunnel through the mountains leading to the Valley of the Fallen. Below them,
the catapults the Wartocks had used to try and breach the gate were still
smouldering from Arokh's relentless attacks. The Wartocks had gone but some of
the guards still remained keeping watch over the barrier between Surdana and
Jassad's forces of evil.
With a thud, the red dragon landed before the gate nodding to one of the guards
to open it. As the doors swung open revealing the long rocky tunnel, Arokh felt
a slight shiver go through his spine thinking of what might lie ahead. He
swallowed and walked into the tunnel with Rynn upon his back the gates crashing
shut behind them.
"I do not like this place" Arokh said bitterly as they left the tunnel
into the lush green valley.
"Really? It looks quite a nice place" Rynn said with enthusiasm
observing the peaceful looking trees that lined the valley floor by the
riverside. It was hard to imagine this was the lands of the Desert Lords.
Arokh snorted in disdain. "Might be pretty now but this was once the scene
of a devastating battle in which many of friends and comrades were lost. The
sight of the place brings back painful memories."
Rynn placed her hand on the dragon's neck to show her concern. She didn't know
the scale of the battle that took place there over 600 years ago but the memory
was still fresh in the dragon's mind.
He turned his head round to look at her and gave a weak smile. "The gate
hopefully will not be far."
The valley seemed very quiet. Only a few Wartock camps were dotted about on the
ground, which they both ignored as they were short of time. A few bat dragons
attacked but they were no stronger than the ones that populated the wilderness
around Surdana and were no threat to the mighty dragon.
"Arokh, is it me or is it getting warmer? I have noticed the air becoming
drier and warmer as we fly further down the valley" Rynn pointed out
undoing her furs, which she was still wearing since they left the Northlands.
Arokh nodded. "You are correct Rynn. We are on the borders of the Desert
Lords climate spell. You may have been told that they can mould the environment
and weather to suit their needs within a certain area. Look ahead; can't you see
the grass giving way to sand?"
Rynn looked into the hazy distance. A few farmhouses were below just where there
was a significant change from lush greenery to sand.
"The desert must be near then,” she said quietly knowing that it would
almost certainly be guarded by Jassad's finest.
Arokh did not answer and descended landing on a small grassy area amongst the
farmhouses. Rynn jumped off and shielded her eyes from the sun looking towards
the Desert, thinking of what was in store for them.
"No, please don't hurt us!" A voice suddenly startled her. Turning
around she noticed a small group of farmers stood nearby.
"Don't worry, we won't hurt you. We are on your side" Rynn said in a
friendly voice walking up to one of the men.
"I'm Rynn" she introduced herself.
"Andrey" the man answered holding out his hand. Rynn took it and shook
hands showing that she was indeed friendly.
"You won't feed us to your dragon?" A young woman asked with concern
staring at the dragon fearfully.
"Oh no" Rynn laughed. "He is quite harmless."
Arokh gave her a quick look upon hearing that comment and frowned.
"Harmless eh?" He shook his head and came over to join them.
The young woman seemingly was assured by Rynn's comment and looked the dragon
over with curiosity rather like a young kitten does to a small mouse. She walked
around him but yet kept her distance mesmerised by the magnificent beast, she
had heard the legends of the Elder Breed but never guessed they looked as
handsome as Arokh.
"So this is a dragon of the Elder Breed? Is it male or female?" She
asked.
"Male" Arokh grunted in objection.
The woman backed away upon hearing the dragon speak, it was not something she
had expected. "So is he yours then? He's quite nice looking isn't he?"
she asked but Rynn did not reply, just gave a quick nod and turned back to her
father.
"Well I aim to please" Arokh said with a grin.
"You are very lucky" the woman said rejoining her father.
Getting straight to the point Rynn asked for any hints to their quest. "Do
you know where the two gateways are?" Rynn asked hoping that he would point
them in the right direction straightaway.
Andrey thought for a moment and gave his reply. "There is one just before
the desert about a mile down the valley. It’s guarded well by bone dragons
though. The other has been taken away" he answered flatly.
Rynn frowned. "Taken? By whom?"
Andrey shook his head. "The Desert Lords took it up to their floating city
in the sky called Stratos but you would mad to go there."
Rynn suddenly became more interested. "Stratos? So you know. Okay, how do
we get up there, can we just fly up there?"
Andrey again shook his head. "I doubt it, the only way up is by a lift that
goes from beyond the structure in the desert - you will see it plain enough. The
Desert Lords have some sort of energy barrier around the city otherwise I guess
you could just fly up there. Furthermore, the entrance to that place is barred
by a couple of laser like beams which destroy anything they touch."
Rynn paused for a moment, she knew it wouldn't
be easy. "What is this place and is there any way to disable the
beams?" She asked feeling that it may well mean another search for a lost
artefact or key to progress. She was sick of that kind of thing now and just
wanted to get the gates opened as quickly as possible.
"The structure in the desert is an ancient temple or something that once
belonged to the Dark Union. As for the lasers, I really don't know. I can't help
you there" Andrey said bitterly, he was a bit disappointed in himself for
not being of much help.
"There is something though" he said
after a short moment. "My boy, Perry, used to play around that area and its
possible the Wartocks caught him sniffing round; I haven't seen him for 2 days.
He has a key that gets into the lower catacombs below the temple or whatever
that place is. If you could...."
"Find Perry for you?" Rynn continued cutting Andrey short. It was the
least they could do.
Andrey sighed and smiled. "Please, if you could, Ill reward
you well. There is a Wartock base further down the river at the other side. You
should try there first."
"Do you mind, Arokh?" Rynn asked.
The dragon turned his head away and gritted his teeth angered by further delays.
"Okay, but first we open the gate near the Desert" he answered looking
back at Rynn. "Perry's key may come in handy to enter that place if we are
to get to Stratos. I had hoped we did not have to go to the wretched place but
it seems luck is not on our side."
Suddenly the men scattered. "Look out!" Andrey cried and ran for
cover.
Fearfully Rynn turned her eyes to the sky. Bone dragons!
Rynn
barely had time to mount Arokh before a surge of electrical energy hit the
ground beside them burning the grass into a blackened hole. The farmer's family
had already fled to the safety of the farmhouse where they watched from the
windows. Arokh's eyes tracked his target and tried out his sonic breath for the
first time. He was surprised at the effect; the highly concentrated blast of
sonic energy had a devastating result on the bone dragon's fragile skeleton
visibly shattering parts of it.
By now Arokh was airborne ready to finish off his foe when his leg was hit.
"Arokh! Behind, there are two of them!"
Rynn cried in alarm. Arokh snarled in pain and dodged another bolt of energy
waiting for his own breath weapon to recharge so he could finish off his first
attacker. The sound was like a loud thunderclap as he sent a retaliatory strike
at his foe but he missed!
"Damn" the dragon muttered under his breath backing off when he saw
the undead creature turn round for an attack. He closed his eyes for a second or
two to block out the brilliant flash of light but it never came; an arrow sailed
right into the bone dragon's rotting carcass and exploded.
Arokh looked down and saw that one of the farmers had fired an explosive tipped
arrow with precision accuracy. But, there was no time to thank him. The second
bone dragon attacked again and Arokh managed
to avoid the projectile sending the full blast of his sonic breath into its face
shattering it into pieces, the delicate bones falling to the ground like white
stones. The red dragon hovered for a moment to get his breath back.
"We should get to the gate now" he suggested looking furtively around
the skies. "They know we are here now, we should move quickly and waste no
time."
The gate like Andrey had said was about a mile downstream neatly nestled between
two large sandy mounds. They had met about five bone dragons guarding it but
Arokh chose to deal with them one at a time attacking from a distance and
drawing them into the valley where there was plenty of room to manoeuvre. Two
successful hits from their lightning attack would kill him outright and the
fights with them had already used up a sizeable supply of Rynn's health potions.
"Its hot here" Rynn complained wiping the sweat from her brow and
undoing her coat to let some air circulate.
"I'm not surprised with what you are wearing; its
so hot here even I'm starting to perspire; the soles of my feet are soaking
wet" Arokh pointed out.
"Ugh, I didn't really want to know that" Rynn said. "I hope your
armpits don't smell as bad as your feet, I'm quite near them" she laughed.
Arokh grunted ignoring her remark. He thought she knew that dragons didn't sweat
except for the soles of their feet, he had told her
that back in Alwarren looking for Turi's soul crystal.
"I don't know why you didn't change when you had the opportunity in Surdana,
surely you knew the desert would be hot?" he continued; she was still
wearing the furs she was given by Captain Fandril the day before. "After we
open the gate, we will go back to Surdana and you can buy some more suitable
clothes. I don't want you passing out on me with heat exhaustion" he said
as he proceeded to open the gate. "Anyway my feet don't smell,” he added
in a quieter voice, his jaws drawn into a slight smile.
"They bloody do!" Rynn remarked jokingly. She sat back and relaxed;
she knew this wouldn't take long.
Purple energy surrounded the dragon as he
summoned the spell hovering in front of the circular gate. Rynn noticed that one
of the dragon heads on either side of its top surface had broken off but Arokh
obviously thought it would still work. She was going to point it out but she
didn't want to break the dragon's concentration. Suddenly, the bright purple
energy poured from Arokh's chest and met with the gate bringing it to life after
being dormant for so long. Within a few seconds the image of Surdana appeared
and a low humming sound emanated from the now open portal. Now partially drained
with summoning the spell, Arokh wearily turned his head to his bonded.
"Three down, one to go" he remarked. Rynn swallowed and smiled back
without saying anything hoping that it would be all over soon.
Without
any further conversation between them, the dragon flew through the gate
returning to Surdana once more for Rynn to purchase some more suitable clothes
for the conditions ahead and for them to replenish their depleted supplies. If
they were to reach Stratos, they needed to go prepared.
Shortly, they returned back through the gate
to the Valley of the Fallen to search for the base Andrey spoke of. They would
need to find the boy, Perry to make their lives much easier in getting the upper
hand of their enemies.
"So,
where do you think this Wartock base is?" Rynn asked as she returned to
Arokh having tried a couple of locked steel gates which closed off cave
entrances in the valley wall.
Arokh looked around then frowned. "Andrey said it was supposed to be here.
We should keep looking, perhaps they have more than one entrance."
Rynn placed a finger under her new leather tunic; it was still hard and rubbed
slightly especially seem as her skin was clammy with the heat.
"Is that uncomfortable?" Arokh asked noticing her discomfort.
Rynn shook her head "not really, just needs wearing in. Come on, lets look
down there by that waterfall, there might be a hidden entrance" she said
pointing downstream nearer the gate.
Arokh
circled down to the bottom of the waterfall looking for any hidden caves. Even
though the new leather tunic was a little uncomfortable, Rynn was glad that her
scale armour was still in good shape and she did a quick scan of the quality of
her weapons.
She had the lastat blade, which she knew would definitely come in handy, as well
as a long bow and the ice
blade Arokh then saw what they had hoped to find. “Rynn, there is the cave
entrance” he said loudly beginning to head for the open cave behind the
waterfall.
“Then lets go kill some wartocks.” Rynn said, glad that they finally found
an entrance that they or her was able to enter. Arokh agreed and landed on a
patch of grass at the outskirts of a lake formed by the falls. Peering into the
cave, Arokh saw a door at the far end and a sleeping guard, lying against a
crate. “This is almost to easy” Rynn said. “You could hit that guard from
here Arokh” she continued noticing that he was well in reach of the dragon’s
fireball breath.
Arokh turned his head around to face her. “True, but then who would open the
door?” he said regarding Rynn with an inquisitive look expecting an answer but
she stayed silent knowing the dragon had a point. With an almost evil smile,
Arokh waded into the lake that lead into the cave. The lake was formed by the
falls, but because it ran into to underwater tunnels and the river leading
towards the farm, it only came up
to Arokh’s chest giving him the perfect chance to sneak up on the Wartock.
Quietly,
Arokh went up on the bank inside the cave, and facing the Wartock only inches
from its head, and shouted “hello!”
The
Wartock jumped to life like a needle had poked him but Arokh wasted no time and
put a foot down pinning the Wartock to the floor. “We have a slight problem
that I know you are going to solve for us,” he said forcefully.
“I
don’t have the key” the Wartock replied, fearful that the dragon would apply
pressure and crush his chest. “But I can get you in the front door, just
promise not to kill me.” He continued offering the dragon an alternative.
“Where?”
Arokh growled pressing more firmly on the Wartock’s chest.
Arokh
felt warm moisture on the bottom of his foot as the Wartock shuddered in fear.
“Its back a ways towards the farm” he whimpered, almost crying.
Rynn
could hardly keep from laughing as Arokh reared up on his hind legs and waded
back through the lake still holding the Wartock between his front feet. “You
are liking this way to much Arokh” she said with laughter in her voice.
“Just
killing them gets boring sometimes, that’s when I improvise.” Arokh answered
flying to the top of the falls and back towards the farm.
“There
is the door, it’s made of wood, so you should have no problem getting in, now
please let me go” the Wartock muttered pointing out the door with an
outstretched arm. Arokh laughed under his breath and decided to dispose of the
Wartock. “If you say so” he said scornfully dropping the Wartock and letting
him fall to his doom. He circled downwards to the door blasting the guards and
door with a charged up sonic blast, shattering them into fragments. The dragon
laughed to himself with self satisfaction and returned to pick up Rynn from the
bank of the small lake.
“Why don’t you go have some more fun while
I get Perry” said Rynn as Arokh landed in front of the collapsed door.
“I’ll
wait Rynn, just be quick, the longer we take now, the more time Jassad has to
getting reinforcements to guard the last gate” he answered glancing around the
sky checking to see if any more of the bone dragons had shown up.
Taking
out her ice blade, Rynn entered the base. With the cave being so hot, the ice
blade cooled Rynn to a comfortable temperature, but the comfort didn’t last
long as she spotted a dozen Wartocks guarding a tunnel leading deeper into the
cave. She thought for a moment, knowing that even her scale armour was not going
to last long. “If only Arokh weren’t so big” she whispered. But then she
remembered that the ice blade must have some magical properties to it just like
the earth blade. Holding the sword above her, the blade surrounded her with a
shroud of ice. “Perfect” she mumbled and jumped right into the middle of the
group of Wartocks freezing them instantly. Six however had got clear of the ice
in time and surrounded Rynn just out of reach. Rynn ran towards the three
Wartocks in front of her who instantly ran out of way. She knew once the ice
mist was gone the sword would need a moment to recharge, so Rynn took out her
long bow and fired arrow after arrow. When the ice mist cleared, only two
Wartocks remained. The one closest to her swung for Rynn’s head, but she
dodged easily and using the ice blade froze the wartocks leg, collapsing him to
the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, the other Wartock came charging with a
downward swing from his axe.
“Sorry
but I am not your type” Rynn said and took a step back, turning her sword
under her arm, and impaling the charging Wartock. Winded from the battle, Rynn
took out her lastat blade and finished off the Wartock with the frozen leg, but
a sudden burst of pain shot through her as an arrow hit her side. Rynn got
behind a rock and peered down the tunnel. Three more wartocks could be seen with
crossbows. “Perfect time to use the clone spell.” Rynn thought. And
in summoning the spell, Rynn ran down the tunnel unseen whilst the Wartocks
fired their arrows at her decoy. Within ten yards of the wartocks, they suddenly
knew that something was near them but they could not see whom, as Rynn was
invisible. Completely undetected, she cut them down one by one.
The lastat blade had taken care of the pain in
Rynn’s side, and as she looked up from the bloody mess, a voice came from a
cage high above a pit. “Up here, help me,” said the voice. The cave was
huge, with the pit in the centre. Rynn cautiously neared the pit, heading
towards what looked to be the pulley system for the cage. “No don’t come any
closer,” said the person in the cage, as a pair of pendulums came swinging
towards Rynn. Doing a forward roll, she dodged them with only inches to spare,
and quickly saw the culprit who set them off. “Ohh, shoot, I guess I have to
take you on myself.”
It
was a Wartock, but a giant in comparison to the ones she just fought. “So, how
do you want to die farm girl?” the Wartock giant asked cracking its knuckles.
Rynn knew that just one hit from this guy would kill her, and her weapons were
not powerful enough to even pierce that monsters armour. Rynn thought about her
combustion spell, but she would need time to summon it, suddenly the Wartock
swung its arm, just missing Rynn by mere inches. The Wartock continued its
attack, swinging violently. In out manoeuvring the creature, Rynn now found
herself pinned, with the Wartock in front of her and the pit behind her. “Time
to fall down farm girl” it sneered and leaped at Rynn. In a move of
desperation Rynn dove under the Wartock, and the creature fell into the black
hole. “Typical your brain wasn’t as big as your head” said Rynn with
laughter, and switched on the machine to lower the cage and extend the walkway
over the pit.
“You must be Perry.” Rynn said as the cage
opened.
“Yes,
the wartocks thought I started the old traps in the ruins, and saw me playing
around there, so they captured me, but I was trying to figure out how to turn
them off” said Perry, thankful of his rescue.
“Leave
the traps to me Perry, we need to get you home.” Rynn said as she escorted
Perry out of the caves.
Arokh
was waiting patiently outside. “What took so long Rynn?” he asked with
impatience in his voice. Perry’s face lit up with a broad smile and look of
sheer amazement, never had he seen a dragon so amazing. “That dragon just
talked!!!!” he exclaimed.
Rynn
and Arokh just glanced at one another, “Yeah” Rynn said with a laugh,
“sometimes too much.”
Arokh
glanced at her again in protest. “Look who’s talking Rynn” he muttered.
Perry
ran up to Arokh, and circled him many times in amazement. “So can I ride him
home” Perry questioned with enthusiasm.
“Don’t
ask me” Rynn exclaimed, exchanging looks with Arokh who was clearly getting
irate with the kid circling him. “Let’s get this kid home before I kill him
out of sheer relief” he growled.
Perry
stopped circling Arokh and Rynn walked up and mounted him. “That was a yes
Perry,” said Rynn.
“Climb
up” she continued beckoning him to mount the dragon sitting in front of her so
she could hold him.
Finally
after about twenty questions from Perry, Arokh landed at the farm and Rynn
helped him off of the dragon’s back, who clearly was sick to death of the kid.
“Thank
you so much for saving my boy” said Perry’s father. “Here, I don’t have
much to offer you except this sword I kept from the wartocks” he offered.
Rynn
could see the sword would come in handy. Perry handed a key to Rynn as she
turned back to Arokh. “This key will get you into the ruins, hope you can shut
off the traps” Perry said confirming what the key was for. Rynn thanked the
kid and mounted Arokh who immediately took to the air.
"We
should head to the Sanguinade without delay,” Arokh said whilst flying towards
the Desert. Rynn did not answer but the dragon knew she was in agreement.
Suddenly Arokh stopped and hovered behind a sand dune lowering himself so just
his head was visible to the enemies ahead. Rynn stared seeing several dragon
like creatures circling the open desert plain about a quarter of a mile ahead.
"What's the matter Arokh?" She questioned noticing the dragon felt a
slight feeling of dread through the bond between them. She didn't think Arokh
feared anything.
"Griffins" Arokh grated.
"What?" Rynn said surprised. She had heard of the mythical beasts but
they were just myths, nothing more.
Arokh sank a little lower as one came close,
Rynn could see that it's upper body was covered in gold and black feathers and
its lower body was sandy coloured, like a large wildcat's fur. It had a large
beak and talons protruded from its cat like paws.
"Arokh, that thing is wearing a saddle!" She said in surprise and
alarm.
"Shhh!" Arokh cut her short. "They have good hearing."
Rynn immediately fell silent and watched as the winged beast flew away breathing
a sigh of relief when she realised they had not been spotted.
Taking the moment to explain the reason of the saddles, Arokh turned his head
back to look at his rider. "Griffins are wild beasts but they are
intelligent and can be tamed rather like a horse. They cannot talk nor have the
magical capabilities of a dragon but they are loyal and make a good companion
for any knight. They often served as steeds for a king's guards, long before the
days of the Order." Clearing his throat, the dragon continued "I would
guess they have been trained well by the Desert Lords. We should avoid them at
all costs."
"But, that is impossible isn't it" Rynn objected pointing out the
obvious. Arokh gave a throaty laugh. "Think Rynn. Think."
Rynn thought for a moment, she didn't know
what the dragon was getting at and she didn't want to look stupid in front of
him. Eventually she said softly "In..Invisibility potions?" Stuttering
in embarrassment should she have the wrong answer.
"You catch on quick Rynn. How many do you have?" Arokh questioned
lowering his tone as the griffin came closer again.
"None." Rynn said flatly.
There was an audible sigh of exasperation from the dragon but he bit his tongue
and tried to be polite. "Well that's that idea buggered then. Have you got
any invincibility potions?"
Rynn fumbled about in her backpack. "I have two."
There was an awful silence and Rynn broke it first. "Shall I use one
then?"
"No" Arokh snapped. "We will face more difficult enemies ahead,
we should use them then."
"Why did you mention it then...?" Rynn said, her voice fading away
realising she might spark another argument with him and now was not the time.
"I'm sorry Rynn" Arokh apologised. I was thinking about my strategy
and you were breaking my concentration. I have a better idea, did, by any chance
Jade teach you the fear spell?"
Rynn thought back. She would have almost certainly have remembered that one.
"No, I'm afraid not."
Arokh smiled. "I can teach you."
"You?" Rynn said surprised.
"Hah, don't let this old dragon fool you. I know a lot of things" he
laughed. "But it does not serve any purpose to me and I can't cast it, that
is why you need to know it. If you cast the spell, it will affect both of
us."
"So, the griffins will ignore us?" She said thinking ahead.
"Exactly. Even better fly away then that way we can attack from behind or
simply ignore them." Arokh answered hovering backwards turning around back
towards the gate. He set down on a spare quiet piece of grass absently roasting
a Grull and beckoned for Rynn to dismount.
"Ready to learn some magic?" He grinned.
Some time later….
"For
god's sake Rynn! How many more times! Arokh shouted angrily, annoyed and
frustrated by Rynn's lack of understanding of the casting ritual.
Rynn swallowed and tried again moving her hands correctly but still nothing
happened. She stared at the dragon who tossed his head away in frustration as
she failed to cast the spell correctly for what seemed like the hundredth time.
She could see a flash of anger in his eye; Rynn knew Arokh was very short
tempered and had little patience. She didn't want to fall victim to his foul
temper again; he could be very, very nasty despite his feelings towards her.
Rynn thought back to when she was bathing Arokh under the waterfall that very
morning giving a quick glance between the dragon's rear legs remembering the
incident. An overwhelming feeling of lust suddenly came over her as her eyes
followed his magnificent body up to his head. She wondered if he was thinking of
her when she was washing between his legs or somebody / something else but after
giving it a second thought, concluded that it probably wasn’t her. Whatever it
was, she now knew what he enjoyed and she could possibly do something special
for him when this was all over. That is of course if he was in agreement.
Shaking off the thought, she concentrated on getting the fear spell right; Arokh
was counting on her now. Personal favours would come later, much later.
"Maybe I'm not saying it correctly?
She asked herself in her mind as a boost of confidence flowed through her. She
tried again and this time it worked! She was covered in a yellow glow for a few
seconds and then it was gone.
"Is that it? It didn't last long" She muttered with disappointment.
Arokh swivelled his head round, the look in his eye somewhat more pleasing.
"Yes. But it does last longer than you think; the yellow glow only lasts
for a few seconds but the effect lasts for a minute or so. When you get more
experience, you can make it last longer."
Rynn nodded. "Shall we try it out then?"
"Only when you feel confident enough." Arokh replied.
"But we are in a hurry" Rynn pointed out. "We must reach the
sangu.. Whatever it’s called and stop Jassad!"
"Maybe. But we can't afford to be killed. The whole of Humanity and
dragonkind is counting on us and if we fail.... Well, the consequences are
unthinkable." Arokh remarked.
"Well, it’s nice to be wanted. Come on lets go" Rynn said walking up
to the dragon to mount but he pushed her gently away with a wing.
"Are you sure?" He said sternly looking at her in the eyes. Rynn
stared back and eventually said, "I'm sure."
Returning
to their observation point earlier, Arokh hovered just out of view like before.
"Ready" he warned as two of the griffins lurked nearby at the other
side of the sand dunes.
Rynn cast the spell and Arokh immediately flew straight at the griffins, two of
them shrieking in fear and fleeing for their lives.
The dragon quickly scanned the landscape with his sparkling red eyes picking out
a set of stones nestled between two small mounds of sand. He remembered
something from long ago when he was last there during the battle against
Navaros's forces and when the desert was lush green countryside. "Down
there Rynn. I'm going to land and you are going to get that sword."
"What sword?" Rynn shouted looking where the dragon was pointing. All
she could see was some sort of shrine, collapsed with age.
Arokh didn't reply and hastily landed on the parched hard baked soil and sand.
Rynn leapt off, as she knew she had to do something for the dragon. "There
isn't much time. Go!" He snarled pushing her roughly towards the shrine.
"Thirty seconds!"
Rynn ran towards the shrine but could see no
sword. "Where?" she shouted back at the dragon who ignored her; he was
too busy taking out the griffins from the ground that had strayed too close.
A grating sound suddenly startled Rynn and turning round she saw that a sword
had risen from the centre stone. Without hesitating, she grabbed it and began to
run back towards where Arokh was waiting but the ground opened up and four
soulless emerged. She instantly recognised the hideous things from that
encounter in the palace the day before. Rynn immediately lunged at one with the
fire blade instantly setting its arm alight but one of the others hit her in the
back. Her armour absorbed most of the blow but she felt blood running freely
down her back and a searing pain went through her with every step she took.
"Rynn! Run!" Arokh yelled walking closer to her position dipping to
let her on.
Rynn almost dropped the sword, as her hands were slippery with blood and sweat
running as fast as she could leaping onto the dragon's back. He was immediately
airborne making a quick manoeuvre to aim a charged sonic blast at the Soulless
killing them instantly.
Suddenly a blast of yellow energy shot past them.
"Out of time. Rynn you must cast the spell again now or we are dead"
Arokh snarled under his breath evading another projectile. Rynn trembled with
fear desperately trying to concentrate but she failed.
"Come on Rynn! Now!" Arokh growled, himself starting to fear for his
life.
The gateway to Surdana loomed ahead of them and a sigh of relief went through
the dragon's body. "Forget it. We will escape,” he shouted diving towards
the gate neatly flying through it. Everything went hazy then black and they were
shortly back in Surdana but they were still being pursued; Rynn didn't think the
griffins would be stupid enough to follow.
"Got it,” She yelled as she cast the spell, the weary griffins giving up
chase. Rynn looked back and saw that they were uneasily hovering about the
gateway wondering what to do next. One was quickly taken out by the palace
archers and the other fled back through the gate.
"That was close" Arokh gasped landing in the Town
Square.
"You're telling me" Rynn answered, equally breathless.
"We should take this time to purchase new weapons and any other supplies we
may need. This may be the last time we come here before Stratos." Arokh
advised.
Rynn ran her fingers through her hair to tidy it and dismounted. "Good idea
Arokh. Brekk said he has something special for me if I give him the four
elemental blades. Besides I need a decent bow."
"Okay" Arokh nodded. "Meet you here in 15 minutes, no
later."
"Where are you going?" Rynn questioned seeing that he was preparing to
leave.
"I just have some business to take care of" he grinned and with that
he was gone.
Walking
into the store, Rynn could not think of what the dragon could be up to. Eating
was always a good guess, but why the evil grin?
“Ah,
the Wartocks have been telling stories about you that frighten their
children.” Said Brekk with a smile. Rynn took out her ice blade and fire blade
and set them on the counter. “You do still have the earth and lightning blade
correct?” She asked.
“Certainly miss” Brekk answered as he took the two swords on the counter and
added them to the other two in the back and presented Rynn with the blade he
promised.
“This
is the best sword I carry, the Mournbringer,” he said unveiling a very
familiar looking sword.
Rynn
was stunned and almost looked white when she took the sword and held it to her
face, eyeing the detail. She thought back, and was sure that the sword had been
thrown into the lava with the rift blade after the defeat of Navaros.
Brekk
noticing Rynn’s concern wondered what was wrong with the weapon. “Something
wrong with the sword?” He asked.
Rynn gave a few quick swings and with relief no sounds of moaning came from the
sword. “No, its perfect” she mumbled. It was obvious it was not the same
sword, the one she found was called the Mournblade and Brekk had called the one
she was holding the Mournbringer.
“Good,” Brekk said. “Now I have a few
more items that I feel you could use” he continued as he rummaged through his
small cache of weapons under the counter.
Rynn
knew she needed better armour as well as a much better bow, but Brekk had both
answers with the best quality in the field. Rynn had to sell the long bow and
lastat blade, but considering what Brekk had to offer and since the Mournbringer
regained life as well, it was well worth it. She now had the Armour and bow of
the Order which was the same equipment Surdana’s Knights carried, the tempest
blade from Perry’s Father and the powerful Mournbringer.
Rynn
took the extra time to stock up on health potions and met Arokh shortly
afterwards by the Alchemists. She didn’t even bother to ask him where he had
been as she knew it would only be a short sarcastic reply; the dragon did not
like to be questioned even by her. With a quick leap into the air, the dragon
was airborne heading back towards the gate once more.
"Don't you get the feeling this is too
easy?" Rynn asked the graceful dragon as they entered the Desert of Tears
for what was probably the last time.
There was a pause whilst she waited for him to answer as he dove lower to the
ground to hide himself better amongst the sand dunes.
"Not for me" he growled.
"Oh" Rynn replied a little taken aback by his short reply; she had
hoped for a little more conversation and at least get his opinion. He kept
warning of dangers ahead but they always seemed to get by with no problem.
They flew in silence for a while and eventually Arokh put her out of her misery.
"Only joking Rynn. It does seem too easy, yes
but I think Jassad has underestimated us or he has all of his defences in
Stratos. Anyway, despite me being the saviour of Drakan and well, er, my
exceptional combat abilities, I would not have got this far if it wasn't for
you."
Rynn laughed and tapped him lightly on the side of the neck. "Show
off" she said jokingly. "If I hadn't have awakened you, this would
never have happened."
"Not only that" Arokh noted. "But you can get into places I can't
and I surely would have been killed if you had not learnt the fear spell for one
example."
"We make a good team together don't we?" she smiled.
Arokh quickly changed the subject as they
neared the end of the valley were the desert floor rose sharply to give way to
towering mountains. The imposing structure of the Sanguinade loomed ahead
protruding from the base of the mountain. Rynn could see that the main entrance
was blocked by a couple of purple beams across the doorway and another identical
set could be seen just behind.
"Those must be the beams Perry's father was talking about" she
whispered as if in expectation of an attack.
Arokh had slowed his flight to a crawl, eyes darting all over the place looking
for enemies. He barley answered her in the form of a
short grunt as he landed in front of the huge temple like structure.
The Sanguinade was partially in ruins; most of the stone from the front had
crumbled away and lay around in the sand. Two shrine
like structures sat on either side of the main building, some of the stone
pillars collapsed and the roof was missing on the other. The mosaic floor of the
Sanguinade's interior was partially covered in sand where the wind had blown in;
the wooden door had rotted away long ago.
Arokh looked up at the dragon head statues fixed at intervals around the top of
the building's perimeter and following down to the huge dragon statues that
flanked the entrance. They sat upon stone stands and were carved in to menacing
poses as if to frighten away any unwary visitors.
Rynn was just about to mention that the area
looked safe when a bright flash of light shone in front of them and then
disappearing as quickly as it came. Arokh blinked and stared at the figure stood
before them.
"Dane!" He snarled. "I thought I'd
catch up with you soon. You are a dead man if you continue to help the Desert
Lords..."
"Shut up you ignorant beast!" Zola Dane interrupted him. Arokh didn't
answer back but just glared at him with anger. As much as he hated the man, he
would not kill a human being unless absolutely necessary.
"I have no intentions of giving up, not now. As for you, your luck has been
uncanny; a miracle even that you got this far." Zola drawled in his high
pitched irritating voice. Arokh's jaws curved into a scornful gaze, continuing
to let the wizard speak, purely for the entertainment factor alone.
"You are pathetic" Arokh snarled barring his teeth to show his anger.
Zola Dane just laughed in his face and continued. "Pathetic eh? Well, lets
just say your good luck has come to an end. You see, I have arranged a little
meeting for you, a reunion so to speak."
Arokh looked puzzled for a moment and for some reason, his mind flashed back to
Heron. "No, it can't be" he thought and turned his eyes back
upon the traitor wizard.
Zola Dane had by now turned his back and uttered the words "Shaza! Tora!
Awake!" and simply disappeared into thin air.
There was a thunderous cracking noise as
fragments of rock showered them. Looking up, Arokh saw that the two dragon
'statues' had come alive!
"So they are not statues then." He muttered under his breath.
Something was familiar about the two dragons but he could not remember quite
what. He was certain that they were not there the last time he visited the
Sanguinade over six centuries ago. A few seconds later, he was promptly
reminded.
Rynn out of instinct grabbed the dragon's neck tighter in anticipation when the
two identical golden dragons looked down upon them. Rynn noticed that they were
the most beautiful looking creatures she had seen so far in her life; they had
gold scales and a sandy coloured underbelly. Little did she know that they are
the most deadly creatures she had ever seen.
"Shaza! Look. Isn't that... Arokh?"
the one on the left asked. The voice was deep and throaty, even more so than
Arokh's and it had a hint of a feminine tone to it.
The other dragon looked closer as she tried to remember back to her days in the
Dark Union before she and her sister became stone at the end of the war.
"Yes... Arokh. Murderer!" She said, her voice getting louder as she
said the last word.
Arokh quickly turned his head to look at his rider who just looked back and
shrugged.
"You killed our brother and now his soul cries out for retribution!"
Shaza added.
Suddenly remembering the pair, Arokh took the opportunity to put his case
forward. "Your brother was a traitor to the Order of the Flame and eater of
children. A crime to warrant the death penalty; you should know that!"
"You killed him,” Tora shouted, her voice showing signs of anger and some
sadness.
"I was the one to carry out the execution, yes but he committed a crime; I
was doing my job." Arokh sternly pointed out.
Rynn tapped Arokh on the neck and he looked back at her again in response.
"Didn't you have any friends?"
Arokh looked away and answered in a sinister tone of voice "this is no time
for jokes Rynn. These two were assassins for the Dark Union and were the Union's
best."
Shaza quickly flew up into the air shortly followed by her twin sister, Tora.
"We should attack them now, before they are fully awake!" Arokh
declared leaping into the air with tremendous force making Rynn feel like her
stomach had fallen into her legs. "Now is the time to use that
invulnerability potion!" Arokh shouted in a hoarse voice as one of the
dragon sister's energy bolts hit him taking away a large portion of his life
force. There was no wound from the blast as both the sisters attacked with life
sapping magic that did no physical damage to Arokh's body but wicked away his
life force like a sponge.
"Every time they hit us, a portion of our
life force is taken away and added to theirs effectively healing them. Our best
chance is to fight one at a time and hope we kill them before the effects of the
potion runs out" Arokh shouted to his companion as he tried to avoid the
homing magical streams the best he could. Rynn drank the invulnerability potion
and Arokh got to work on Shaza.
Shaza
backed away uneasily upon seeing Rynn drink the potion. She was unsure what
would happen next and cautiously began to circle the red dragon stopping behind
him whilst her sister attacked. Arokh quickly returned the attack choosing to
use his ice breath attack since it homed in on nearby targets and was highly
effective against the agile foes.
"They are using some sort of protection spell,” Shaza yelled to Tora.
"It won't last long. Follow me" Tora answered and began to fly towards
the open desert with her sister following closely by.
"Arokh, they are getting away!" Rynn
shouted pointing out the blatantly obvious.
"No shit" Arokh muttered to himself with sarcasm and began to give
chase letting go with a couple of ice blasts hitting Shaza unexpectedly but she
did not freeze much to Rynn's surprise.
"Keep it up!" Rynn encouraged as they began to close in on their two
enemies.
Arokh growled and did a neat barrel roll to avoid a projectile from one of the
sisters. There was no need to avoid it as it would not do him any harm but
instinct told him to get out of the way as quickly as possible.
"The ice breath weapon is very demanding. I can only release three blasts
and I need to wait a while. Give me a chance" Arokh growled trying to get
closer but they were too quick for him.
"Concentrate on one" Rynn continued, offering what she thought was a
bit of support and encouragement but the dragon saw it as criticism and replied
with anger. "Do I tell you how to fight? No? Well keep quiet and let me
handle this. If you want to be of some help, use your bow and arrows; your
homing arrows would be a sensible choice."
"Sorry I spoke" Rynn mumbled and aimed at the dragon Arokh was
targeting squinting down the arrow shaft to get a more accurate aim.
Suddenly, after a good few minutes of fighting, Tora froze solid. "Now
Rynn!" Arokh shouted moving closer so she could have a better chance of
hitting her target.
Tora was slowly falling down to the ground, unable to move her wings. The hot
sun was rapidly thawing her out and she would soon be mobile again. Without
hesitating, Rynn fired the arrow, it landing right into Tora's head shattering
the upper half and destroying the brain. The lifeless carcass thawed and crashed
to the desert floor with a loud thud, plumes of the soft, dry sand briefly shot
into the air around her sides and settled.
Arokh's jaws curved into a satisfying smile but shortly he found that he no
longer had something to smile about; the invulnerability potion had worn off and
Shaza was bearing down on him enraged at her sister's death. Arokh had killed
her brother and now her only sister; she wasn't going to take this lightly.
"I
think we may have a problem" Rynn whispered cautiously to her companion as
she felt the effects of the potion wearing off. She knew Arokh would have felt
it too but she did not know his thoughts.
"An understatement, yes" the dragon replied adjusting his position so
he could see his attacker more clearly, wondering who would make the first move.
It had crossed his mind that Shaza would have fled in fear but he put that
straight out of his mind when a stream of black life force stealing substance
homed in on him writhing like a snake as he tried to shake it off.
Arokh let out a gasp of pain as his already
weakened life force was almost taken away; he could actually see it as a purple
glowing energy blob floating away from him. To his horror, Shaza quickly flew
into the purple glow and absorbed it healing the injuries she had sustained
before Tora's death.
"Rynn! I feel myself weakening. Do something!" He snarled in pain and
desperation. Rynn, also affected by her bonded's state barley managed to drink a
potion of life as another blast hit them - one that would have killed them if
she hadn't drunk the potion in time.
"I can't keep this up" Arokh panted. "She is far beyond my
capabilities but if I could just..." "Get her sister's breath
attack?" Rynn interrupted finishing the sentence for him.
Arokh rolled his eyes and whispered a faint "Yes. On her death, there
should be a crystal or similar containing her powers. We must get to it and
fast."
Rynn downed yet another health potion, the battle seemed hopeless; as soon as
Arokh injured Shaza, she was healed by his own life force. Health potions were
in short supply too, not to mention the side effects of drinking too many.
Hallucinations and blacking out were the main symptoms of consuming too much of
the red liquid at once and double vision would make it much harder for them.
Summoning all of his strength, Arokh managed to avoid one of Shaza's
projectiles, looking around to see it fizzle and die out. He was beginning to
loose hope when Rynn cried out "Look, over there! The orb!"
Arokh immediately saw the glowing mass of dark
energy and flew as fast as he could towards it; his eyes firmly fixed on it
putting everything out of his mind. All he wanted in that moment was to reach
that crystal energy orb.
"Ill keep her away" Rynn suggested but
Arokh didn't answer. She drew the Bow of the Order and began to fire behind at
the pursuing dragon, firing arrows as quickly as possible relying on their
magical homing abilities to find their target. She felt the sigh of relief that
went through the dragon's body under her as he absorbed the crystal giving him
the same breath weapon of Shaza. The battle now had got much easier.
The aerial battle between the two dragons raged for what seemed the longest five
minutes of Rynn's life. Finally, Shaza's carcass went toppling to the ground and
Arokh began a steep dive landing on the hot sandy plain below. He arched his
back as an indication to Rynn that he wanted her to get off and waited for her
to dismount.
Exhausted, both physically and mentally, the dragon lay down in the sand and
closed his eyes letting out a huge sigh. Noting mattered to him at that moment
except for a much needed rest.
"Well done Arokh. I'm proud of you" Rynn said softly touching his
head, herself weary through the bond. She felt that
he needed a bit of encouragement; what he had just gone through was probably the
hardest fight he had ever taken part in bar the battle at Mount Tibor.
Arokh raised his head and opened one eye to see Rynn squatted by his side and
managed a faint smile.
"Thank you" he mumbled opening both
eyes to look at her. Rynn sat down in the sand in front of him and the dragon
lowered his head resting it on her legs and closing his eyes once more.
Rynn stared at the huge head on her lap and the long body stretching out from it
and thought how lucky she was. She felt tired herself but there was no time for
sleep and she decided to keep the dragon talking so he would not drift off
himself.
"There is no orb where Shaza died" she pointed out for something to
say. Arokh didn't move or open his eyes but mumbled a short "No" and
groaned moving his legs to get more comfortable. She reached out and started to
stroke his nose, the dragon's jaws curing into a satisfying smile enjoying the
moment.
"If I already have the same breath weapon as the dragon I kill, there will
be no orb / crystal whatever you call it" he mumbled through a partially
open mouth. There was another long silence and Rynn continued, probing for more
information on their attackers.
"So, why weren't Shaza and Tora in their caves like the rest of the
dragons?" She asked.
Arokh thought for a moment casting his mind back to the Dark Wars. He wasn't
really interested in talking but he didn't want to appear to give the
impression. Eventually he gave his answer. "They were taken from their
lairs and placed at the entrance to the Sanguinade to defend it should the need
arise... Which it did of course."
"So how were they awakened?" Rynn asked.
"I don't really know" Arokh muttered. He raised his head again and
looked at her. "The Dark Union knows magic that was unknown to the Order
and they don't go with the traditional rules of bonding. I would guess that
their crystals were taken to the Sanguinade and somehow Zola Dane activated
them. I do not know. Sorry" he apologised.
Rynn smiled back and looked into his eyes. "It does not matter. They are
dead now."
"Aye, they are" Arokh muttered and rose to his feet. "We should
get going, time is of the essence."
Some couple of hours later, Rynn was deep
inside the ancient ruins of the Sanguinade whilst her fiery companion patiently
waited outside till she found a way of disabling the barrier blocking the main
doors.
The interior of the Sanguinade was partially collapsed due to ageing and damage
from what looked like an explosion beyond the grand hall. Rynn had taken time to
view the paintings that still hung from the walls of the main hall showing the
achievements of the Dark Union and large battle scenes against the Order. There
was a huge painting on the far wall almost covering it showing Navaros riding
his bonded mount, Kaeros, painted shortly before his betrayal. The young woman
felt anger upon seeing the image as that man was the very one to take her
brother, her only family away from her. Gritting her teeth, she shot a ball of
flame at the ancient painting setting it alight giving her a wonderful sense of
achievement.
The Sanguinade was plagued by the Soulless
which tested Rynn's abilities to the full, she was glad of the Mournbringer
which gave her precious health upon a successful hit but it was no easy task
avoiding their devastating melee attacks. Killing the final one in the vicinity,
she proceeded on to the next hall which appeared to be a reception room for
guests and visitors to the ancient structure.
"Now, what do we have here? A teleporter?" Rynn asked herself upon
coming to what seemed like a dead end. A huge door to her right blocked progress
and she had searched everywhere for a key; unfortunately, the key Perry gave her
only gave her access to the outer door. Certain that the door was impassable,
Rynn stepped on the teleporter and everything went black.
"What the?" She muttered as she stepped off the teleporter looking
behind to see it deactivate preventing her return. She took a while to take in
her surroundings; she appeared to be in outer space within a gassy nebula but
yet there was breathable air present. She stood on a partially collapsed stone
floor leading across to some sort of structure on the other side. She had a
quick glance across the 'sky' confirming her suspicion that she was indeed in
outer space; the planet of Drakan and its nearby cousin, the planet of Sessool
could clearly be seen accompanied by their moons. The sky was beautiful to look
at; it consisted of pinks, oranges, reds and greens as the star and sunlight lit
up the gaseous heavenly body. Remembering back to her days before her village
was attacked, amongst the stars, the Andromeda galaxy and a couple of large
gaseous nebulas could be seen in the night sky. She was clearly within one of
them.
"Better see where this goes,” she thought to herself beginning to
pick her way across the fragile stones. Skeletons rose from the ground on her
way but she simply smashed them with her sword; they were of no threat to her.
Eventually, she reached the structure on the other side of the 'room' seeing
that it was actually a tunnel through some rocks that made up the towering
mountainous structure.
Upon entering, she was unchallenged and carefully made her way down the winding
tunnel on the lookout for traps, lighting torches along the way so she could see
better.
Eventually, the tunnel came out back into open air where she was greeted by more
skeletons, again disposing of them with ease. As she looked around the
otherworldly terrain, something caught her eye; it looked like some kind of
throne room!
"What
are you doing here!?" A voice demanded unexpectedly as Rynn walked into the
small roofless marble walled room. Startled, she looked over to her left to see
a large skeletal humanoid being standing up from his throne and beginning to
walk towards her. Rynn did not show any signs of fear; it looked like one of the
regular skeletons she had encountered although slightly larger.
Before Rynn could speak the figure spoke again. "I thought Zola Dane had
taken care of you and your dragon... Hmm. I knew I shouldn't have trusted
him."
"Who are you" Rynn questioned. She had a slight inclination that the
figure was Gothraul but she wanted confirmation and any information she could
get from him.
"I am Gothraul, lord of the ghouls. You are trespassing in my realm"
he spoke slowly and with a tone of voice that made Rynn's skin crawl. Shuddering
she gave her reason for being there wanting to leave as soon as possible.
"I came by accident actually. I wasn't looking for you, I was after Zola
Dane; a teleporter in the Sanguinade led me here."
Gothraul gave a loud ghostly laugh. "Seems you are out of luck. He has been
and gone, most probably up to Stratos." There was a slight pause and he
continued "I am wanting that man dead myself."
"Really?" Rynn said sarcastically. "Then maybe we could help each
other."
"Hah! Not likely" Gothraul snapped. "As much as we both dislike
him, I would rather kill you instead. Arokh and the Order has been a thorn in
the Dark Union's side since it began. Now I have the Desert Lords to contend
with as well."
Shocked by hearing that Gothraul was allied
with Navaros and a member of the Dark Union, Rynn stepped backwards; a wave of
anger and sadness coming over her as she remembered her brother's tragic death.
"So, you and the Desert Lords are enemies? I thought the remnants of the
Dark Union and the Desert Lords were allies" Rynn asked, surprised at his
reply.
"No, no. We are, lets say neutral to each other but both of us do not want
the Order of the Flame returning to the world. So, I agreed with Jassad to help
them stop Lady Myschala and Arokh's plans in return for... well, that does not
matter now."
"Oh" Rynn said quietly. "Suppose you want to kill me now?"
She continued with a smirk.
Gothraul gave another laugh. "I like your
sense of humour, girl. But, you are correct; you obviously do not want to give
up and go home. You must die."
Rynn equipped the tempest blade, as it was the most powerful sword she
possessed. The Mournbringer did not return life when used against the undead and
it was much heavier than the tempest. Gothraul went into a fighting stance and
two blades materialised in each hand.
Rynn swallowed at the sight of the two blades and ran straight at him to make
the first strike. The tempest cut into the ancient bones slicing one of the arms
off in one blow. Both of them were surprised at the outcome of the blow and
Gothraul was momentarily stunned. Taking advantage of this, Rynn ran around him
and cut off the other arm so that he could not attack.
She stepped back and Gothraul stumbled and fell to the floor facing her. "I
did not know I would be so frail" he gasped. "No-one has ever tried to
destroy me for the last 600 years, I have grown weak."
Rynn grinned broadly. "Maybe you should have thought of that before you
attacked me."
Gothraul gasped again. "I suppose I might as well help you... There is a
key on the armrest of my throne; it will open the door to the upper level of the
Sanguinade. There you can escape."
"Now that's better,” Rynn said placing her hands on her hips. "There
is one problem though; how do I know you will not call legions of the undead
after me once I have left? Assuming I let you live that is."
"I won't, trust me" Gothraul continued.
Rynn did not trust the skeletal being. She was going to ask him how to disable
the laser traps but she felt that he would probably lead her into a trap. He had
failed at killing her personally but there was an almost unlimited undead force
that could do the work for him.
Rynn smiled at him and went to collect the
key. She walked back past him cutting off his head as she went; there was no way
she would walk out of there without destroying him. As Rynn walked through the
teleporter returning her back to the Sanguinade, the skeletons and bone dragons
that had been summoned collapsed and disintegrated making the trip to Stratos
much easier.