Chapter Nine: A little too late?

At last, Rynn reached the mainland to the south. It was relatively quiet giving the entrance to the Succubi lair was only a couple of hundred meters away. Squatting down behind a grassy mound, the young warrior could see a few Succubi flittering around the entrance and a ship docked nearby stacked with crates of grimstone fresh from the mines. She paused for a moment thinking of her brother and the other young boys that had seemingly been taken into the Succubi lair. She had no knowledge of the beings other than what Arokh had told her. Whatever they intended to do to him could not be good and Rynn felt the urge to find him more and more.

Rynn gathered her weapons together and carefully made her way to the entrance using the cover of darkness and an invisibility potion to keep herself hidden from the odd goblin and the war giant that patrolled the docks. The three Succubi however saw her the moment the potion wore off and immediately fled into the lair in an apparent panic. They knew she was coming.

Queen Shilla shouted in anger at her Wartock and Goblin allies incompetence, taking it out on her two messengers.
"What do you mean? She is actually parading through my home as we speak?" Shilla screamed at the two Succubi, her eyes lit up with anger.
One mumbled "yes, she managed to get past the war giant" hanging her head trying not to make eye contact with the queen.
"Oh great. Pure incompetence. Navaros will get to hear of this failure and all that are responsible will be dealt with severely. I suggest you send our flame knights to deal with her and warn anyone left in the lair. I will go and make preparations to transport Arokh and the humans to Navaros." Shilla continued her voice still shrill with anger.

She began to head out of the door and turned to face her bodyguard, the Ebon knight. "I want you to stay. Once you deal with Rynn, get yourself on the boat carrying the grimstone and come and find me in the meeting hall where we have opened the rift. The boat will follow shortly after the transport taking Arokh and the human samples; there will not be another one. Do not miss it."
The knight nodded and replied "as you wish my queen" his voice sounding hollow within the steel clad suit.

Meanwhile, Rynn had made it past the entrance hall of the lair and was about to enter the main antechamber that contained the feeding and sleeping quarters.
She swallowed hard as she walked up the short corridor. The walls seemed to be alive, several pulsating balls of a green flesh like substance expanded and contracted like giant infected spots. The place had a foul smell in the air, which smelt of rotting flesh; she noticed a couple of decomposed human bodies nailed to the pulsating walls. Almost retching with the smell, Rynn hurried through to the main chamber and looked around the alien looking cave. A lone Succubi descended down to meet her.

"No, wait!" she yelled when she saw the human reaching for her bow.
Rynn cautiously lowered her weapon and eyed the winged creature with suspicion.
"You are the dragonrider, yes?" she questioned.
"I might me" Rynn answered dryly, as she put her bow away.
The Succubi continued; she seemed more relaxed now that an arrow wasn’t pointing in her face. "Well, I can help you. You see Queen Shilla has banished me from the baths for reasons I'd rather not say. I disagree with what they are planning.”
Rynn stepped forward, closer to the winged being in interest. At last somebody who might be able to answer some questions. "Never mind that, what about my brother? He is one of the few young boys that may have been brought through here?"

The Succubi smiled. "Listen, Queen Shilla and the others have been communicating with a spirit called Navaros, once a warrior of the Dark Union I believe. He cannot escape from the rift as he is not a mortal form and they seek for a body for him to inhabit so he can leave the rift."
Rynn looked aghast as it suddenly became clear. "My brother" she cried. "I have to get there!"
The Succubi came closer; Rynn could see her pale blue eyes. "Maybe it is your brother who is chosen, maybe not. I must tell you one more thing though. They plan to bring Navaros back to defeat the Desert Lords but Navaros has plans of his own unknown to Shilla. Bringing him back will only make things worse and both our and your species will be obliterated from this world."

"How do you know that?" Rynn questioned.
"I have spies. Some of us secretly oppose Shilla" the creature answered.
Rynn didn't bother to ask further questions about Navaros or the Desert Lords; she was only interested in her brother. Other matters like that would come second.
"I'm not interested in petty political matters. Can you help me find my brother?" Rynn asked, her voice almost begging.
The succubi looked at her thoughtfully wondering whether to help or not, deciding what would be the best thing to do. Eventually she gave her answer. "I can show you but some may ask questions when they see you. Leave the talking to me but I will have to leave you to go on alone when you reach the Queen's throneroom. She has a bodyguard who will need disposing of."
Rynn was overjoyed but there was doubt in her mind that the Succubi might lead her into a trap. She accepted but was highly alert should her doubts prove to be true.
"Lead the way then" she eventually said hand firmly on her bow should anything go wrong.

The Succubi lead her through the twisting tunnels and chambers filled with the pulsating walls deeper into the lair. The sleeping quarters were akin to a bee hive; hundreds of small holes in the rock leading up and down as far as the eye could see. Occasional floating platforms rose up and down carrying food and other supplies. Bridges through these areas formed the interconnecting paths and tunnels that made up the lair.
Suddenly she stopped outside a jail cell and went inside returning with some chains taken from a long dead unfortunate victim.
"Put these around your arms and waist" she suggested.
Rynn stepped back uneasily. "Why?" she asked suspiciously.
The Succubi laughed and smiled again. "There is no need for alarm. You are my prisoner. Once we get near the throneroom, Ill let you go."
"Oh I see now,” Rynn said realising that her new companion was going to get her past the flame knight guards.

Somewhat reluctantly, Rynn put on the chains and began to follow the Succubi down a long tunnel, thankfully having rock walls rather than the ‘living’ walls until a locked door blocked their progress. The door was flanked by a couple of flame knights who looked formidable in their steel armour and dual flame swords.
"Don't worry, I outrank them" she whispered to Rynn who looked quite shocked at her present condition. She swallowed and nodded in acknowledgement.
"What is your purpose here?" One bellowed.
"I have Rynn. Shilla wants to see her immediately,” the Succubi said.
The knight did not reply but calmly unlocked the door and beckoned for them to go through.
"Move it!" the Succubi, shouted to her prisoner.
Together, they walked through the door, the knight closing it behind them. The tunnel ahead was empty.

"Shilla has already left for the volcano taking Arokh and the young boys with her. There is another ship in 10 minutes which will follow the others; it will lead you to them." The Succubi noted as they reached the end of the tunnel. Two more tunnels were on either side.
"I must leave you here. The tunnel to the left goes to the throneroom, the other leads to the docks. Good luck and whatever you do don't take on Shilla's bodyguard hand to hand. Use your arrows" she continued undoing Rynn's chains.

"Thank you" Rynn mumbled and turned to ask the Succubi what the pulsating walls were made of but she had gone, seemingly into thin air.

Rynn could not believe her luck but suddenly a feeling of dread came over her as she thought of the possibility that the Succubi had taken the rift crystal. She gulped and reached into her pocket for and sighed with relief when it was still there.
"Thank god for that" she mumbled and began to make her way into the throneroom.
"Who goes there?" a steel clad knight shouted, the Mournblade sword at his side.
Rynn did not answer and pressed herself against the wall when she saw him coming towards her.
"It’s now or never" she muttered as she reached for the dragonstrife bow, which had more arrows than expected due to her help through the lair. Desperately, she pulled the bow and released the homing arrow which hit the Ebon knight in the chest knocking him back. Again and again Rynn continued to fire arrows, the knight responding by throwing lightning spears at her. Only one hit her but it did not do much damage.

The knight, confident that he would get a kill ran up to the human but she suddenly whipped out a deadly looking mace and embedded it into his face. The knight gave a groan and toppled over, his armour crashing onto the floor with an alarming clatter. Rynn bent down and picked up his weapon and straightaway she realised it was special.
The blade was long and felt very light in her hands and gave off low screams as she swung it through the air.
"This is an awesome weapon" She exclaimed as she practised with it for a while eventually making a decision to throw away an axe and a long sword that was weighing her down.
She looked up and saw the throne ahead of her; the room was empty otherwise. Running up to the bare rock throne, she pressed the button on the armrest with curiosity.

A humming sound alarmed Rynn and she drew the Mournblade ready to attack but nothing came to challenge her. She watched in amazement as a small screen came to rest in front of her flickering into life showing a boat leaving with Arokh onboard.
"Arokh!" she shouted in despair and ran out of the throneroom towards the docks. By her timing, she had roughly 5 minutes to get to that ship or her brother may be lost forever.

Arokh observed the queen with suspicious eyes. He had been muzzled again and he watched the queen closely to see if she would have another attempt at fondling him. He shuddered with the thought but the queen seemed to ignore him and flew above the ship barking orders at the crew. Arokh could smell sulphur in the air and he suddenly realised that the ship was heading nearer and nearer to an erupting volcano on the mainland. The waves gently rocked the wooden boat from side to side adding to the nausea and dread that the dragon felt. He wanted to ask why they were heading to such a dangerous place but he couldn't. All he could do was wait.

Back in the Succubi Lair behind him, Rynn stopped horrified as another war giant blocked her way. He looked identical to Tutol and was as every bit deadly. Rynn quickly ran back into the safety of the tunnel where the giant could not follow and pondered her situation. She had one invisibility potion left and there was no time to fight, she had to get onto that ship.
Not knowing how far away the docks were, Rynn took the risk and drank the potion running past the giant towards another tunnel entrance. She ran faster as the giant stomped about; he could not see her but he could hear her. He tried to kill her by stamping on the ground making Rynn stumble a few times as she ran.

Rynn noticed one flaw of the invisibility potions; her feet were making nice footprints as she ran in the sand enabling the giant to see where she was. The giant was not very intelligent but she figured that it wouldn't be long before he realised her trickery.
This was shortly confirmed as loud thunderous footsteps followed closely, Rynn running faster in fear of her life. Finally, she dived into the tunnel, the giant crashing into the rocks behind.
She did not stop either; the potion would not last much longer.

Summoning up all of her strength, Rynn ran past another giant and past a group of Grull and dived onto the ship as it left the docks. She looked back and saw a Grull being hurled through the air heading in her direction but it splashed into the sea harmlessly. The giant had seen her as she dived onto the ship, the potion wearing off at the same moment.
As the boat left, Rynn looked back at the immense structure of the lair and then carefully hid under a pile of Grull costumes before anyone else saw her.

The winds that rocked the boat got stronger and stronger, Rynn felt that a storm was coming. She had hidden under the clothes, thankfully clean and washed for nearly an hour and she was becoming restless.
"I wonder how long this will take" she wondered peeking out from under the clothes to get some idea of where she was.

There was no one on deck, this boat was different; the bridge was below decks rather than the traditional at the helm like the others. She looked up at the two masts and sails arranged like dragon's wings that moved about in the wind, the wood creaking with every move. The pitch black night sky was starting to give way to daylight on the horizon and Rynn could make out another two ships a few miles ahead of her. Beyond the ships, land could be made out where a volcano was erupting spewing its deadly lava over the land. Somehow, she had a sinister feeling that it was her destination.

Chapter Ten: Volcano of death

The boat began to head for a sea level cave, one of a few that lined the mainland coast, but this one was notably larger than the others. Suddenly, she heard Grull voices and she immediately dived under the clothes to take cover. Carefully parting the tunics so she could see, the Grull began to take down the sails and disappeared below decks again. The other two ships had docked about half an hour before her ship arrived and she was becoming increasingly worried about her brother's safety.

There was a splash as several pairs of oars protruded from the ship and it slowly began to head into the cave. Rynn noted the strong smell of sulphur and the immense heat; some parts of the cave walls were actually glowing a deep red and where they met the sea, steam rose off the water flooding the cave with an eerie fog.

Finally, the boat penetrated the fog and came to a stop by a long wooden pier in an underground cavern. She noticed that there were a large number of Grull and boxes by the docks and the other two boats were nearby. She could see Arokh fastened to a platform by the dockside looking very miserable. Upon hearing voices, Rynn dived off the boat and into the water, which was very hot. Quickly, Rynn swam to the edge and hid behind some boxes out of view. A Grull turned round when he heard her footsteps but turned away when he saw nothing.

Out of nowhere, a loud voice echoed through the cavern. "Attention, Attention. Could all members of the Dark Union, living and undead please report to the meeting hall immediately. Failure to do so will result in the death penalty. All...."
Rynn could not understand the last words but she thought nothing of it, wanting to reach Arokh and her brother as soon as possible. To her relief, the Grull started to leave the cavern and a few minutes later there was silence. Now was the time to free Arokh and she carefully crept up to him cautious of any Grull that may have stayed behind.

"Rynn!" Arokh exclaimed, his voice muffled due to the muzzle around his mouth.
"Shh. Don't shout. Here, let me take this off for you" Rynn whispered to her companion, relieved and overjoyed to see him.
Rynn discarded the muzzle and knelt down before the dragon.
"You okay?" she asked looking up into his eyes.
Arokh gave a sad smile. "I would be if I could move."
Rynn frowned. "Well, I'd better get you out of there pal before they come back."
Arokh gave a snort. "If only it was so simple. This is a rune cage and cannot be opened without the key and that bitch, Shilla has it."
“Shilla?” she questioned. The Dragon’s jaws curved into another smile. “You know, the Succubi queen?” he answered. Rynn's heart sank when it dawned on her; she hadn’t really taken much notice of what Rimril said to Arokh but she quickly remembered what was said about the queen. She could not go on without Arokh and she didn't want anything to happen to him. She knew it meant her getting the key from Shilla and that would not be easy especially without Arokh to help her.

"Well, I'd better get it. I'm not looking forward to it" Rynn mumbled.
"I have every confidence in you" the dragon rumbled, his voice now quieter, a look of worry and shame in his eyes.
"You sure you are okay? You look like you want to tell me something." Rynn asked again.
Arokh shook his head then nodded slowly. "Just kill that bitch for now. She... er.. how can I put this... She tried to seduce me and was almost successful; she started stroking and licking my hind quarters, it was very hard to control my emotions." He continued hanging his head lower in shame.
Rynn looked horrified.
"You didn't? Did you?" she asked, ashamed that her bonded would stoop so low. Even though there were the obvious differences between the human and the dragon, Arokh was hers and she suddenly felt very angry at Shilla's actions.

Arokh saw the look on her face and was equally horrified that his friend would even believed he would do such a thing.
"Of course not, I said she was almost successful. What do you think I am? Anyway, if I had have done, they could have easily used my, ahem, love juice to take a genetic sample. In other words, to make a clone of me."

"Oh, right. I see" Rynn said standing up. "Well, wish me luck, I think I'm going to need it" she continued patting the dragon on the nose.
The dragon smiled and whispered "Good luck" as she began to head out of the cavern leaving the same way the Grull did.

Rynn followed the tunnel through avoiding the searing heat of its edges, which, in some parts glowed a dull red with heat of the lava and magma under the surface. Everyone had gone to the meeting hall so she was unchallenged, she had to run as her feet were becoming very warm through the hot ground; the thin soles of her boots offering little protection.

The tunnel opened up revealing a long canyon flooded with lava, several streams came from the fissures and cracks in the rocks above leaving snaking glowing red trails that hissed and crackled as they went. The fumes and heat were almost unbearable.
Ahead, a stone bridge led over to a cave entrance in a central mound of rock. Hanging baskets full of strange looking flowers hung from the rocks which had been carved into horn shapes, decorated with symbols unknown to the human.
It was not this that made Rynn turn and run; at the other side of the bridge was the biggest scavenger she had seen and it came leaping over at frightening speed. Summoning up courage to fight rather than run, Rynn used her speed bow to kill the creature dead before it even reached her; it wasn't particularly hard to kill despite its size.

"So much for the guard" she mumbled as she kicked aside one of the creature's limbs so she could pass. The fumes from the lava below become more and more overpowering and Rynn ran across the bridge into the cave in a desperate attempt to avoid them. As she walked into the cave, she could hear several voices below. Carefully, she hid behind a large ornamental vase and overlooked the meeting below.
Two paths led down to the cave floor, which in the centre lay a small rift gate, unfortunately only big enough for the passage of a human. Rynn leaned closer to overhear the conversation.

"Where is that rift crystal?" An angry, impatient voice boomed from the rift.
The fat queen of the Succubi flew around the cave in a trance, clearly enjoying the moment. "My lord of the Rift, the dragon's rider, Rynn is on her way here now, our spies have confirmed this. All we have to do is wait until she gets here then the rift crystal will be.."
"Mine!" the voice cut her short.
"You have wasted lots of time. Where are your allies you promised?" the voice boomed.
"They have not turned up, I suspect some have turned traitor" Shilla explained hoping her explanation would appease the lord of the rift.
"You better have a body ready, I want to escape from this place by sunrise" the voice said angrily.

Queen Shilla beckoned to a couple of death magi who brought a sedated Delon forward. He was still dressed in the clothes he was captured in.
"Delon!" Rynn shouted from above. The two death magi looked identical to the ghost like creature she had encountered in the islands; at least now she knew the correct name for them. Shilla looked up but did not see her. Fortunately, she turned back to the rift gate thinking she was mistaken she had heard Rynn's voice. "We have this young boy" she waved to Delon.
"Excellent, bring him here" the voice boomed.

The two death magi dragged Delon forwards and before Rynn could do anything dragged him into the rift gate and was gone. She could not run down and fight, she would be hopelessly outnumbered and she did not want to risk going into the rift without Arokh.
She continued to watch as the Wartocks, Grull, Magi and Succubi left the meeting hall through doorways around its perimeter. Desperately thinking of her brother and how she could stop them, Rynn faltered and thought of her bonded trapped on that platform. He was all she needed now.

To her relief, Shilla flew up and past her, out of the cave back towards Arokh. Rynn had not been seen and quickly gave chase, she was sure Shilla had mentioned that Arokh was to be sacrificed to Navaros.
"Hey, you, give me that key now!" she shouted once they were out on the bridge.

Shilla turned around, surprised to hear Rynn’s voice. "Hah, not likely" she laughed and ignored her continuing back across the bridge.
"Oh no you don't" Rynn yelled and fired a couple of arrows from the dragonstrife bow hitting Shilla confirmed by a couple of grunts as they penetrated her skin.
"Its a fight you want is it? Very well then" Shilla warned and flew over to Rynn who was wondering what the queen's attacks were. She wasn't carrying any weapons nor seemed to possess magic. Rynn soon found out however as Shilla went into a dive flipping over and breaking wind onto Rynn's head.

Surprised, coughing and spluttering with the obnoxious stench, Rynn retaliated but this time Shilla broke wind covering her in foul smelling dung.
"Yuck!" Rynn howled in disgust attacking again. Shilla's attacks continued until Rynn was almost unconscious with the poisonous fumes emitted from the foul smelling dung. She finally let one more arrow go and the hideous creature fell to the bridge, dead almost toppling off into the lava below. Rynn took the key from the body and drank a health elixir. Shortly afterwards. A large thunderous roar sounded and she looked up to see a lava rune appearing above Shilla's body; very similar to the ones produced upon an Elder Breed dragon’s death. She did indeed possess magic Rynn thought and quickly returned to Arokh before anyone else did.

"What happened to you?" Arokh asked as Rynn unlocked the rune cage.
"Trust me, you don't want to know" Rynn said angrily, bending down to undo the clamps around his feet which where holding him down. She was grateful the dragon’s feet were not nailed to the platform, it certainly would have been painful removing them.

Arokh smiled and stretched as he stepped off the platform. "Ohh, my neck is stiff." His nose started to twitch. "Ugh, you stink! Get in that water and wipe whatever that is off you. You are not climbing on my back smelling like that!" The dragon objected noticing that her upper body was covered in a brown coloured substance.
Rynn did want to smell like a latrine herself so she walked into the hot water with Arokh following. He stopped by the waterside and observed her with his glittering red eyes.

Rynn started to undress and saw Arokh looking at her. "Turn around, I'm sure you don't want to see me naked" she objected wanting a little privacy for a moment.
Arokh nodded and turned himself through 180 degrees. "Humans. Always worrying about clothes; I don't see what the big deal is, you have no complaints about me being naked. Tell me when you are done" he said, turning his head slightly so he could get a quick glimpse. Rynn noticed smiling to herself and then began to wash her hair.
"That's because you are different, Arokh. Animals do not wear clothes; I thought that was obvious." She mumbled as she dipped her head into the water. Arokh grinned to himself and sat down staring at the platform he was attached to remembering his ordeal.

"Okay, you can look now" Rynn said as she waded through the hot water.
Arokh turned round to see her fully dressed, surprised to see that she had managed to find a change of clothes. "I can't stay in that water for too long" she continued climbing onto the dragon's back.
"That's better, you don't smell as bad now" Arokh grumbled when she had settled into place.
"What do you mean... As bad?" Rynn objected.
"Uh, nothing" Arokh answered with a smile. Rynn could not see the dragon's face whilst mounted but she guessed he was smiling.

"Okay, Arokh. I need to tell you what I found. We must hurry; my brother got taken into some sort of hole in the ground. They are planning to use him so that the lord of the rift can escape - transfer his spirit into Delon's body or something, I don't understand" Rynn said hastily.
Arokh stood still for a moment in slight shock. "Navaros!" He spat in disgust. "I had a bad feeling this would happen. If your brother has been taken into the rift, we must hurry and find that Runeblade before its too late!"
Rynn's heart began to race. "So that is what that hole was for. Arokh we have to go now!" She demanded, feeling that her brother's life was now seriously in danger.

Arokh did not need to be told twice and ran through the tunnels towards the exit. "By the way, Arokh. Do you know what happened to the other boys that were captured?" Rynn asked, remembering that it was not just her brother that had been taken away that fateful night.
Arokh snarled and then spoke on a quieter voice. "I knew you would ask that." He stopped to take a deep breath. "They were executed."
"What!" Rynn shouted, her voice filled with anger and sadness that someone would kill such young defenceless people.
"Who killed them?" She asked again, her anger growing. She wanted to know so she could bear it in mind when killing the ones responsible.
"Well, Queen Shilla ordered their deaths but it was the Ebon Knights that carried out the executions."
Rynn's lips started to quiver as she fought to hold back the tears. "Just kill them as painfully as possible" she said to the dragon, knowing that it would probably be him that killed them, Rynn did not stand much of a chance against an Ebon Knight.

They burst out into the semi darkness of dawn, Arokh flying up to absorb the lava rune then quickly despatching a pair of ice bats that came to attack. He hovered in the air scanning the valley for any familiar sights.
"I do not recognise where I am but the main entrance to the rift should be along this valley. We must find the Runeblade first though or we will not be able to enter." Arokh noted, coughing violently with the volcanic fumes. "We must hurry, this place is very hostile."
"You’re not kidding" Rynn mumbled.

Suddenly Rynn had a strange feeling - like if she missed something. She quickly scanned through her memories, and realised there was some sort of passage in the meeting room...
"Arokh, land here. I must go back. There was some passage in the meeting room - and if all the evils gather somewhere, their weapons and armour also gather there,” Rynn said.
"Oh well. But hurry up and be careful. We can't loose so near to our goal" Arokh replied, and landed. Rynn quickly got off from the dragon, and ran back into the meeting room. She could see the tunnel she forgot to check. Heading into it, she only saw a passage leading somewhere. She slowly crept through it, trying to stay cautious as traps might be present and reached the other side. The sight almost froze the blood in her veins, a long cavern with two giant blades spinning in it. She realised this was the only way to the other side though, and this did not make her feel happier. Luckily, the mechanism, which was moving the blades, wasn't a complex one, so she could time her jump to the first blade easily. She was just standing on the blade, smiling at her success, but the blade suddenly began to move, and she nearly fell down into the lava. “Grab something” she reminded herself, and grabbed a rope which was holding the spinning blade. When the blade stopped again, ready for another cycle, she jumped onto the second one, and from there onto the stiff rocks. She immediately realised how much she liked still ground. Since she saw nothing of importance when looking around, she decided to move on.

As she was walking downwards in a passage, she suddenly heard a strange clinking sound. “Flame Knight” she suddenly realised. She quickly jumped forward, and thrust her sword towards the knight’s chest. The blade did no damage to the foe though, as it only caught the steel armour, clashing away. The knight reacted slow, but skilfully: he slashed towards Rynn with both of his blades. Rynn quickly rolled aside, and launched another attack with her sword at the knight, this time aiming between the helmet and the body armour. She succeeded, and the hit instantly killed the unlucky creature. She quickly picked up the potion, which the knight carried, and ran on, energised by her victory.

She just stepped into the next room, when she realised things weren't going so good as she thought. The room was full of knights, who quickly realised that her head meant their sure promotion. Rynn held her blade in front of her defensively, and soon three blades smashed into the sword, making no real damage. Realising this fight is hopeless this way, Rynn jumped aside, and dashed into a passage she just noticed. Meanwhile, a knight accidentally hit another, who immediately retailed to the attack he suffered. The two knights began to fight with each other, and this took the attention of the others for a little while. Using this small gap, Rynn quickly sneaked onwards in the passage, and soon left the battling knights behind. As she left the passage, she noticed a ledge, which was above a great height. A spear landed into the rock wall beside her, and looking up, she saw a knight standing on the ledge above. Wondering how could have she missed the large being, she took her bow, and fired an arrow at the knight. This shot had an unexpected effect: the knight lost his stability, and fell down. Trying not to get afraid of the height below her feet, she jumped onto the ledge, then onto another below that. Looking around she spotted a weird looking building of some description. Moving into it, she noticed strange looking armour on some sort of pedestal. Getting closer, she saw that the armour looked like it was made of scale and upon further inspection, decided it definitely had the same scales, which Arokh had.

"Dragon armour, hmm" she said to herself. "A strange way to use those poor beings."
However, she knew she would still make a better use of it than a knight would, so she quickly put it on. She was surprised by the lightness of the armour; and considering the amount of damage Arokh could take; she had no doubts about its capability to help protect her from harm in melee combat.

Getting out of the building, she moved back on the ledge. The other ledge being out of reach, and having no other way to go, she had to go through a door here. After walking a bit, she reached a small room. She was a bit disappointed to find it empty - she expected to find more than armour. However, she was shocked to see four death magi rising from the ground.
"Come you bastards" she shouted, and thrust her sword at the magi, who quickly vanished. The second was unlucky, as he dodged the wrong direction and the same blade that hit the first smashed through him in the next moment. The third and the fourth magi had time to react though, and began to conjure their devastating spells. Rynn rolled left to avoid the green projectiles heading towards her, and then she jumped at the magi. A magi tried to engage her in close quarter fight - which was a bad idea, but the magi only realised this moments later. The fourth magi decided to not continue the obviously lost battle, and fled through the door, which through Rynn came through. Rynn sighed. At least she learnt that some of the death magi were cowards.

She walked out of the room and into another similar room but realised there was no way out. The next room had no doors leading out, only a hole in the ceiling. Rynn was wondering what could she do, when she heard a geyser working, next to her. She quickly stepped onto the geyser, and hot steams pushed her upwards, right through the hole above her. She went through a passage to see the two giant blades again. She wondered what psychopath could have built this place - since it was brutal, and served no real purpose, or at least she noticed no such thing. With a sigh, she began to do the jumping game again...

A few minutes later she could see Arokh again.
"Nice outfit you have" the dragon said, "I hope it is comfortable."
"Yes, it is" Rynn smiled.
"Well, I could have guessed. We dragons make fine friends you see - in our life, and even after it" Arokh made a toothy grin, then made a serious face and added "But now, let's get the Runeblade. Every second brings Navaros closer to his victory - and Delon to his death."
"Fly fast then" Rynn shouted as he jumped onto her dragon.

After some time on the valley, Rynn started to hear a strange noise - thunder, with swirling winds. She glanced to Arokh "Arokh, do you hear that?"
The dragon didn't reply until they reached the end of the valley, and Rynn could see the source of the sounds that puzzled her. A lot below their level, one could see a blue dome, with dark clouds swirling around it. A place that anyone could say it existed. Yet again, it was there.

"The Rift World." Arokh finally answered.
"You mean... that's where they've taken Delon to? And where Navaros is planning his comeback?"
"More or less." the red dragon mumbled "Navaros is still trapped in the Rift - at least I hope so. But yes, that's where Delon should be..."
"Then let's go there - immediately!" Rynn interrupted.
Arokh looked at her.
"It's not so easy. To actually enter there, we need the Runeblade - and that's the only weapon that can do something against Navaros."
She shook her head in disbelief. “So close, yet so far” she thought. Nevertheless, they would get the Runeblade and save her brother. They had to.

"OK, Arokh. Where do you think they hid the Runeblade?" she asked in a weak voice.
"I don't know Rynn. Perhaps we should go south, that's the only place we've not searched yet."
The young warrior nodded. "Then let's hurry. We don't have time to chit-chat - my brother's life depends on-"
"Wait Rynn," the red dragon interrupted "I think I can see an entrance to a tunnel just behind that grimstone tower, down there. Perhaps is there where the Runeblade is hidden."
"It's worth a try." Rynn mumbled. "Let's check that tunnel"

"Rynn, don't you think it’s rather quiet to say we are at the rift? I mean we have not been attacked by a large number of forces like I would have expected." Arokh said just as he began his decent towards the tunnel.
"I know why... Look out!" Rynn shouted as a searing bolt of green energy shot from the grimstone tower hitting Arokh in the chest.
"Argh, that smarts!" He grunted returning fire at the small ball of grimstone at the top of the tower shattering it into hundreds of small fragments.
"You were saying?" The dragon questioned after recovering from the momentary shock.

"Some of the Succubi oppose their Queen's plans. They said something about the Desert Lords and bringing Navaros back would only make things worse. One of the rebels safely escorted me through the lair otherwise, I probably would have been killed" Rynn answered, shouting above the noise of the rift gate behind.
"Desert Lords?" Arokh asked puzzled.
"Yeah, I have heard talk of them from travellers that came by the village. They control a large part of Drakan and came from the planet Sessool or something but I'm not sure. What I do know is that the Wartocks, Grull and Queen Shilla are on their side. The Desert Lords want Navaros to help them but he has plans of his own unknown to Shilla and bringing him back will only bring chaos" Rynn explained carefully, remembering what the Succubi told her.

Arokh cleared his throat looking up briefly towards the adjacent alien planet which could be seen in the early morning sky opposite two of Drakan's four moons. He had heard that the planet possibly harboured life but no one in the days of the Order ever found out as the technology to travel between worlds had not been created.
"I have not heard of the Desert Lords, I can only assume its something that happened after the fall of the Order but bringing back Navaros will be a grave mistake. We must stop them at all costs and hurry whilst we have the advantage. Once the Rebels are found out, all hell will break loose."

Rynn mumbled something about her brother but Arokh didn't hear her.
He quickly dispatched a pair of ice bats sending their charred corpses into the lava below, their bodies instantly setting aflame and dissolving into the molten river. His newfound lava breath could kill an Ice bat in two shots making aerial combat much easier.
Arokh hovered in the lava filled cavern looking through the thick fumes, which made his eyes sting. "Its certainly a hostile hiding place they have here" he noted firing a few balls of lava at a Ebon knight below, landing where it had stood so Rynn could collect the invisibility potion it dropped.
"There!" Rynn said noticing a tunnel in the side of the cavern, through which a wide river of lava flowed, fed by two adjacent volcanic vents in the walls.

"I see it. It’s going to get very hot" Arokh growled and flew down the tunnel skimming the surface of the lava, the insane heat almost unbearable on his underside.
After a short while, the lava flowed away down a deep chasm and the tunnel opened out into a large, deep cavern with a strange looking hollow stone dome in the centre atop of the central column. It was certainly large enough for Rynn to be able to enter it. The doorway to the inside of the dome was blocked by a grimstone forcefield but Arokh could see the runeblade through a hole in the top.
"The runeblade is in there" he coughed, the fumes making it difficult to speak.
"Well, Its too small to fly through but there must be a key or something to open that doorway" Rynn pointed out.
Arokh landed in front of the door outside the done on the bridge connecting it to the tunnel they had just come from. He peered over the edge and saw boiling lava hundreds of feet below lighting the bottom on the circular cavern with a dull red glow. Rynn jumped off to investigate noticing a claw like structure at the side of the door. "This must be where we place the key" she said turning round to face the dragon who had followed with interest.

"It would seem so" he nodded. "Come on before my feet burn up. The floor is very hot."
 Rynn laughed. "Well, perhaps you should wear shoes to protect your feet from the heat. I can't really feel mine burning. They are warm but not hot."
Arokh grunted in reply. "The last thing you will see is me wearing any clothes" and lifted into the air with the human on his back.
"Let’s find that key,” Rynn said confidently, they had come this far and a simple key would not stop her now.

The bonded pair backtracked to the cavern where they entered the underground complex. Arokh could see that a river of lava flowed down to the cavern floor; through the mist another tunnel could just be made out.
"Let’s try up there" he suggested.
His rider did not have much say in the matter as Arokh swiftly flew up to the tunnel, again flying above the lava keeping himself as far away from it as possible. Eventually, the tunnel came back out into the open but looking down, Rynn could see no land. Instead were just swirling mists; she was looking down into a defunct volcanic shaft, many hundreds of feet deep. She shuddered and gripped Arokh's neck tighter even though she knew she wouldn't fall.

Suddenly, a bolt of purple lightning emerged through the mists, Arokh quickly evading it with practised ease. A skeleton of a dragon game towards them, its wings torn and withered; it could only fly due to the magic cast on it.
"Bone dragons." Arokh informed. "In other words Draconic equivalents of the death magi. They are a corpse possessed by a spirit and are very dangerous... as you can see" he grunted rolling to one side evading another bolt of lightning.
Rynn kept quiet whilst Arokh did his work on the draco-mage using his lava breath to destroy his foe. The battle lasted longer than Rynn thought and Arokh was severely injured, emerging from the fight with barely a sliver of life.

"Rynn... heal... us" he gasped, his chest heaving through the difficulty of breathing. Another bone dragon was coming towards them and Arokh did not have the strength to move.
Rynn desperately fumbled with her backpack drinking a potion of life just as a lightning bolt hit Arokh again.
"That was close. That shot would have killed me" he growled. He then let out a loud roar of fury that made Rynn put her hands over her ears and hurled himself at the bone dragon, his claws outstretched.
Arokh's foul temper gave him the edge, his fury giving him strength to carry on, his talons slashed at the bony creature ripping apart the thin membranes holding the bones together.

After a short while, the bone dragon toppled down the shaft, unable to stay airborne due to the damage inflicted upon it and Rynn healed their wounds. Arokh landed on a platform outside a cave in the rim of the crater looking around briefly for more adversaries.
"This must be the remains of Mt. Tibor." He said thoughtfully to himself remembering the scene at the volcano’s foothills where that final battle against the Dark Union took place six centuries ago. His head turned back to Rynn. "Go on in. I don't want to wait all day" he snapped, waving her on with his head.

Rynn obeyed and walked into the opening wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. The opening led into a small room, its ceiling supported by four large pillars into, which were carved symbols, like ancient text. Rynn also noticed the walls were carved with inscriptions; she could not decipher them but Arokh probably could. However, he was too big to fit through the doorway and Rynn did not give them a further thought.
As she glanced around the room, she noticed several coffins, like the one she saw on the island containing that ghost like creature - death magi she presumed. There were also a couple of chests and a pedestal at the far end on which sat a rune key.

"Aha" Rynn whispered and crept up to the pedestal watching the coffins to see if they would open. She opened the chests out of curiosity finding one continued a potion of life and the other some fine jewellery. Awe-struck, Rynn pulled out a ring and a large necklace like chain decorated with fine jewels and gold. They were too big for a human to wear and she wondered what they could be for; a war giant crossed her mind but she suddenly realised who would wear such things. A dragon of the Order!
Rynn excitedly grabbed a couple of rings, a bracelet and the chains then returned outside to Arokh.

"Look what I found" she exclaimed.
The dragon's ruby red eyes looked down on what the human was showing him and he carefully sifted through them with one front foot. He looked up at his companion with sad eyes.
"This is typical of what the Order's dragons wore. Here, this bracelet goes around a dragon's ankle; it’s to show he or she is bonded."
Rynn stared at the bracelet; it was made of solid gold and was about 20 centimetres wide and its diameter was about the same width of Arokh's ankle. It looked like it cost a fortune.

"Why don't you put it on?" Rynn suggested.
Arokh nodded. "It would be my pleasure Rynn. Here, put it on for me."
Rynn knelt and Arokh placed his right foot into her lap. She undid the clasp holding it together and placed it around Arokh's leg, just above the ankle.
She stepped back and looked down at it and back up at the dragon. "Suits you" she said with a smile.
The red dragon smiled back and fished out the bracelet's companion; a small ring.
"Is that for me?" Rynn asked.
"No, put it around my toe" Arokh commanded. Rynn obeyed pushing it right up to his foot so it would not catch on the ground. Arokh began to rummage through the rest of the jewellery and pulled out the chain.
"Would you?" He beckoned.
Rynn sighed and helped the dragon place the chain around his neck and pulled tight the still strong strap so it would not move about. She could see that a piece of gold hanging from the necklace bore the same symbol as the one she wore. The emblem of the Order.

"Now that you have finished adorning yourself, can I continue?" Rynn said with exasperation.
"Sure. Look magnificent don’t I?" Arokh asked with a proud smile examining his new jewellery thinking how handsome he looked. He felt honoured that he was wearing the Order's finest.

“Honestly, you are as bad as a woman” Rynn laughed giving a quick smile at the dragon and headed back to the pedestal. “That dragon sure does love himself” Rynn muttered as she walked away. Again she watched the coffins to see if they would open when she got close.

Assuming they were empty, Rynn put her back to the rune reaching behind her to grab it. Her throat went dry and a cold sweat came over her. Swallowing hard, she pulled the rune from its resting place and began to run for the door. As she half expected the coffin lids blew off and several death magi surrounded her hurling green floating skulls at her, eating away at her life force. Rynn slashed with her sword hitting a couple and ran for the door as fast as she could leaping on to Arokh's back.
"What's the rush?... Oh." Arokh said, faltering when he saw the pursuing death magi.
"Just fly" Rynn shouted in desperation.

Arokh did not need to be told again and he leapt into the air, whipping round to breathe a cloud of fire into the doorway taking out a couple more magi. They soon came back however but Arokh was already halfway across the crater out of reach of their spells. Some followed but gave up after a short while.
"I got the key, I think" Rynn said to the dragon.
Arokh's jaw curved into a scowl. "Lets hope it works, I feel we have not got long now before the rest of Shilla's forces get here."

He also secretly knew that Navaros would almost certainly be ready to inhabit Delon’s body if he had not done so already but he kept silent, not wanting Rynn to panic.

After a short while, they were back outside the domed shaped structure in the lava filled cavern. Rynn stepped down from her mount and walked over to the claw like structure she saw earlier placing the rune onto it.
The green barrier dissolved covering the entrance as Rynn had hoped, the runeblade was now almost in her hands, she could see it embedded in a block of ice in the centre of the dome.

As she walked into the dome, she could see a platform around the central pillar containing the runeblade. A statue of an Ebon Knight archer was at one side of the dome and a large unlit torch was on the platform opposite to the statue.
"Another puzzle" Rynn mumbled to herself wondering what was needed to free the blade. She noticed a lever beside her and shrugging, she pulled it. A loud mechanical noise sounded filling the dome with grating stone and steel as the platform revolved round bringing the torch to just in front of her. It suddenly dawned on her what she had to do; light the torch, revolve the platform so the torch was near the ice so it would melt!

"Aha" she exclaimed seeing that the unlit torch was now directly under the hole in the roof. "Now to light it" she mumbled and ran back outside to Arokh.
"Find anything?" the beast asked.
"Yeah, Ill show you,” she said jumping onto his back. "Fly to the top of the dome" she instructed, the dragon obeying his bonded's wish.

As Arokh hovered above the dome, he could not see what his bonded was showing him. "What?" He asked impatiently.
"Light that torch there with your flame" Rynn said pointing out the torch through the open hole.
Arokh shot a ball of flame at the torch and it instantly ignited with a thunderous boom. “Ah, I see” he growled landing back outside the entrance. “What was the point of that?” he asked.

“You’ll see” Rynn answered returning back inside and pulling the lever again so the torch was near the ice.

She waited and waited but nothing happened. Out of interest, she walked up to the statue finding a large red button on the base. She pressed it hoping nothing bad would happen but instead an arrow shot from the statue's bow, lighting itself on the torch and embedding itself in the ice. Within seconds it was gone.
Heart pounding with excitement, Rynn ran up the stairs surrounding the central pillar and stood by the pedestal on which the blade rested.
The Runeblade was a medium length sword that looked nothing special. It had some carvings in the blade and a hole in its pommel - for the rift crystal. Rynn picked up the blade, feeling very light in her hands and practised with it for a moment. She couldn't see anything remarkable about it.

With a little doubt in her mind, she returned to Arokh and showed him the blade.
"My god, its really the runeblade. I never thought I'd see it again, this brings back some painful memories,” he said sadly. "Go on then, marry the rift crystal with it then we can be on our way" he continued after a short pause.
Rynn carefully took the rift crystal from her pocket and placed it into the hole in the sword’s pommel. Almost immediately, the blade lit up with a throbbing blue light and the crystal glowed a vivid blue.
"Now that's what I call a sword" Rynn mumbled, climbing onto Arokh's back.
"To the rift!" she shouted, the dragon nodding in reply. It was not long now, Rynn could almost smell the victory in the air.

Ethereal winds swirled around them above the deafening roar of the rift. Arokh shouted something but Rynn did not hear him; she was far too busy thinking of the fate of her brother below. Underneath them, a purple orb sealed the entrance of the rift and Arokh hovered lower to it. Again he shouted but Rynn had now got the message; she leant to one side and reached down, the runeblade outstretched. The tip of the ancient sword finally made contact with the dome vanishing it in a show of purple lights. Rynn looked down at the swirling vortex beneath them and raised the runeblade high above her head in triumph and then Arokh tipped forward and plunged downwards into the black hole amidst the swirling winds.

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