CHAPTER 19

In far-off Highhelm Prince Radais and Zhanatos have made a discovery about the connection between their metal attacker and the dragon-hating Grand Empire. The mission is set and the stakes are clear, save the Kingdom Slahan or the rising tide of the Tal’dartheria will wash into the United Kingdoms with a potential army of masked metal murders leading the way.

Back on Dragon Haven, another kingdom is battling a rising tide but one of negative emotions. Aresih and Ilka’s child is expected soon and the concerns about the supposed ‘curse’ that will bring the fury of the Grand Empire down on the island grow with each passing moment. Xion has sent herself to the task of dispersing the build-up of negative energies, but the strange magics of the Forbidden Archipelago may lead to … disastrous results.

Xion frowned as the clear white crystals hanging from the handcrafted ornamental wooden circle darkened into an opaque black. That shouldn’t be happening. That shouldn’t even be possible. She leveled Draco Kami at the crystal and channeled her will through the weapon. She pictured a gentle flowing stream, something as soft as a breeze, and as cool as a spring night. Pulses of mystical energies like ripples across a pound arched out from the weapon into the crystal and banished the black corruption turning the crystals clear once more. The shaman was satisfied with the result but the moment she stopped the spell the crystals turned opaque once more. “That shouldn’t be possible.” She blinked in disbelief as she spoke her thoughts aloud.

“What shouldn’t be?” Larxene, who happened to be walking by in time to witness her friend's act of crystal cleansing, inquired.

Xion turned to her with a start. She had been so focused on the task she had failed to notice Larxene standing next to her. “It's these ‘dream catchers’ and ‘peace chimes’.” She gestured to the ornate circle of wood with the mesh of strings across the opening that created a net, and the crystals attached by strings dangling below it.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed a bunch of those all over town. Did you make them all?” Larxene asked as she reached for one of the blackened crystals to examine it. As her hand drew close she felt a strange not quite pressure but perhaps ‘presence’ on the skin of her hand. Like holding your finger close to a flame and feeling the heat. The blackened crystal was irradiating something, but she lacked the terminology to explain what it was. She knew one thing for certain however, she did NOT like how it felt and quickly pulled her hand back.

“I recruited a few of the villagers to help me, but yes we did. The dream catchers are supposed to collect bad karma and negative emotional energy and channel it into the peace crystal to neutralize it.” Xion explained.

Larxene had neither Radais’ academic understanding of magic nor Xion’s naturalistic view. She had elemental wind magic and used magic rune bow as well as other magical items, but she thought of such things only in terms of how they are used and NOT how they worked. So long as the wind blew how she wanted and the bow fired the arrows how she wanted she cared nothing about the complexities of the underlying magical physics. With this particular mindset, the only inquiry she could make was, “So, the things… are not doing the thing… like they should?”

“Well no, that’s what’s strange,” Xion began, “They are working! There’s just SOOO much negative energy that they’re essentially overwhelmed. The crystal can’t neutralize as quickly as the dream catcher is catching.”

“So a water pump on a sinking ship then? Doesn’t matter how fast the pump works if the water is coming in through the leaks faster?” Larxene made a pirate-appropriate comparison.

Xion nodded, “Essentially yes. But… there simply can not be this much negative energy around. Keep in mind it's not just here it is all the dreamcatchers all over the island.”

“Well, it seems there is.” Larxene gestured to the darkened crystal. “What makes you think there can’t be.”

“There aren’t enough people with enough negative emotions to create it all. This is like having a tavern mug filled with the contents of an entire ocean. Something else either on the island or in the archipelago must be creating the negative energies… somehow.” Xion frowned with thought. She had no idea what could possibly create so much negative energy, but she knew it had to be coming from somewhere.

“Well, we’re not at risk, right?” Larxene asked with a note of tension in her voice. “I mean, we’ve all been living on this island for a while now and have had this negative energy stuff around us the whole time right? It hasn’t affected anyone… has it? What does it DO anyway?”

“I might be affecting us. I had a blow-up at Radias earlier and maybe you’ve heard about the curse situation?”

Larxene nodded, “The one about the dragonblood tannery couple's baby? Yeah, the whole island is talking about it. Ratheo the councilman has posted a few guards around his sister’s home just in case anyone gets any bad ideas.”

“Right, well negative energy can affect how people think and feel. It's not mind control but it can nudge people to less moral actions and choices. It can also affect ‘chance’ in some sense. Bad things are more likely to happen, ropes hauling cargo snap, tools break, and spells fizzle out more. It works as a cycle the more negative energy created the more miserable people are, thus more negative energy is created.”

“Bad attracts bad then?”

Xion pointed to Larxene and nodded, “I had assumed it was the belief in the curse that was upsetting everyone… but now I think I’m wrong. My guess is whatever is creating all the negative energy is influencing everyone *to think* something like the birth of a child could bring about a curse.”

Larxene frowned, she didn’t quite understand what her friend was saying, but the expression on Xion’s face communicated her worries clearly enough. “How bad are we talking here? What is the worst-case scenario?”

Xion blew out a puff of air as she thought. She honestly wasn’t sure of the answer; she had never heard of a set of circumstances like this before. “People might turn violent… a major accident might happen… there could be a nightmare manifestation.”

“I do not like the sound of that last one.”

“Well… in very extreme cases enough fear can--” Xion began but fell silent as she noticed a disturbance in the foot traffic up the road. Someone was running down the road yelling for others to move aside.

Larxene followed Xion’s gaze, “That’s Doctor Vayrus.” She gestured to the aged and gray half-dragon as he spirited down the street with an expression that clearly read ‘I need to get to my patient, NOW’ in that well-practiced manner all doctors eventually learned. “Xion, I think he’s heading for the tannery.”

“Oh by the gods! Is Aresih having the baby right now?” Xion exclaimed.

“I think she is… and the doctor just ran across the island in front of *everyone*. Won’t take people worried about that curse long to guess what’s going on.”

Without another word, both women took off running.

At the tannery…

“Get the Dragonbloods off the island!” One voice cried out.

“The curse will destroy us all!” Another screamed.

“The hand of the empire shall fall upon us if we don’t act!” A third called.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

A line of demarcation had been drawn around the tannery. Inside the circle was councilman Ratheo pleading for calm, the guards he had posted forming a shield wall holding the most aggressive members of the mob back by force, other members of the dragonblood community that showed up to protect the tannery that were now positioned around the house with whatever weapons they have handy, a fretting husband armed to the teeth with leather workers knives, a screaming woman, and a child ready to enter a very turbulent world.

The tension of the negative energy was so thick in the air that everyone could taste it like blood in the mouth after being punched in the face. Of course, to the layperson, they didn’t know that’s what it was. To them, everyone they knew was either trying to get rid of or protect the occupants of a small home. Each side had a little voice in the back of their mind pushing them to worry and fear what the other side was going to do.

Doctor Vayrus an exceptional man of medicine but not of crowd psychology tried to push through the mob saying, “Stand aside I need to get to my patient! Please clear the way! I must get through.” He managed to make it about a third of the way through when someone grabbed him from behind and put a dagger to his throat.

“Yoooooou are not letting that curssssssse come to passssss, doctor!” The attacker declared in a shaky voice. Qaux the lizard folk was not a bad person. He had never had cause to harm anyone before in his life, he was just a farmer. But in his addled state, he thought ‘If the doctor can’t get to the woman then she can’t give birth and unleash the curse.’ Anyone with a clear mind can point out the numerous flaws in such ‘logic’, but in the mind of a simple man… scared, angry, and in the middle of a mob of his fellow scared and angry people it seemed like the only thing to do.

“Qaux?” Doctor Vayrus recognized the voice, he had treated the lizardman’s strep infection just last week. “By the gods man, what are you doing?!”

“They’ve got the doctor!” One of the guardsmen announced, causing a flash of tension to roll through the crowd like a spreading flame over dry grass.

Qaux held Doctor Vayrus tightly with a trembling dagger to the physician’s throat, “I’m sssssssorry I have to sssssstop you. The cursssssse can not come to passsssssss!”

“What are you talking about? The curse is pure nonsense! Let me go, I have to help Aresih.” The doctor struggled to pull Qaux’s arm away and thus the dagger from his throat, but he was fatigued by the sprint from his house and couldn’t find the strength.

Qaux tried to drag the doctor away from the house, away from unleashing the curse. A few of the other members of the mob started grabbing at the doctor as well, their intentions unknown. It was as he happened to turn to look at which way to go he felt the sudden sharp pain in his wrist and heard the dagger hit the dirt. He looked down and screamed as he saw the arrow sticking through his wrist.

Vayrus used the opportunity to break free of Qaux’s grasp. He flinched as another member of the mob reached out for him but the attacker was held short by an arrow flying right past the tip of their nose leaving a streak of blood where the very edge hit.

From a roof atop behind the mob, Larxene bellowed out in her most determined voice, “ANYONE THAT TOUCHES THE DOCTOR CATCHES AN ARROW IN THE BRAIN!”

The sight of injuries and the threat was enough to force the mob away from the doctor.

Xion ran to the edge of the mob Draco Kami held high in the air charged with glowing energy and slammed the handle into the ground unleashing the potent ice spell held within. A wave of frost shot forth like water from a bursting dam flowing over the ground, in its wake icicles like a dragon’s teeth shot up from the ground as if a giant long mouth were biting through the very earth. The frost path and the ice walls created a barrier cutting off most of the mob from the doctor and creating a clear line to where the guardsmen were protecting the tannery. The Shaman raced forward to grab the doctor and hustle him into the house but found him leaning over an injured Qaux.

“Hold on Qaux! This is going to hurt.” Doctor Vayrus grabbed the shaft of the arrow on either side of Qaux’s wrist and broke the arrowhead end off then pulled the shaft out causing the patient to gasp in pain. “I’m going to wrap a cloth around the hole…” The doctor did so as he spoke. “Hold pressure on the wound as tight as you can to stop the bleeding.” Vayrus took Qaux’s free hand and clamped it around the cloth after tying it on tightly. “That should keep you from bleeding out till you find someone to heal you. Seem me after all this mess is sorted out I’ll give you something to prevent infections.” As the doctor stood up he paused as he heard Qaux utter something.

“I’m sssssorry doctor…”

Vayrus simply nodded to his attacker-turned-patient—a silent acceptance of an apology.

Xion arrived a second after and began ushering the doctor forward. Her ice barrier wouldn’t last for long and even over the shouting of the mob, she could hear the screams of the soon-to-be mother. “Let’s go, doctor!”

A few of the more aggressive members of the mob tried to knock down or climb over the ice barrier, but warning shots from Larxene in the form of shooting the ice right next to where the offender’s head was enough to dissuade them long enough or Xion to get the doctor past the guard line and into the house.

Once the doctor was safe Xion turned to look out at the mob. The situation had gotten worse; the guardsmen line was beginning to crack, and the dragonbloods gathered around the house stood with weapons ready to fight the moment the mob began rushing through. This was going to end in bloodshed. The idea was overwhelming to Xion. Her own people were about to stain the soil of their island… *their* Dragon Haven with the blood of *their* own kin. She had to stop it and she only had one chance to do so. The Shaman took the two Dragon Gemstones from the pocket of her robe and began channeling their energies. Radais locked the gemstones away in a hidden vault of which only he and his guardsmen friends knew of. The understanding was the gems were only to ever be used in case of emergency. Xion was certain this counted.

Previously the energy of just one Dragon Gemstone shared among four friends had been enough to give all of them to move at lightning speed for a few brief moments. Now Xion was about to use two whole gems by herself. The strain of the power was almost too much to bear. It was like reality itself was pushing against Xion’s will as she channeled the power into herself with one simple focus… a gently flowing stream, something as soft as a breeze, and as cool as a spring night… but magnified by the awesome power of the Dragon Gemstones the stream was a typhoon that could wash away islands. The spell manifested as a point of light brighter than the sun at the tip of Draco Kami which Xion held above her head as she screamed and strained against the energy she was channeling. The light of the darkening sky of the setting sun was suddenly lit up like noon as the point of pure potential of magic suddenly EXPLODED into a massive sphere of pure white light. The light washed over an island in an expanding globe, and everyone that was touched by the light suddenly felt a great peace. A calm and serenity that was seldom known in the turbulent world of Acheron.

The fighting, the shouting, the fear, and the anger…

…the light, washed it all away.

Every blackened crystal on every dreamcatcher throughout the island turned a pristine clear white as the light washed all the corruption away.

The silence of the serenity lasted for just a few seconds but in those few seconds everything was so calm and quiet that when a cry from a tiny cry rang out and another said “Congratulations, it's a girl.” Almost the entire island heard it all at once.

The cheering started with little ‘Haven’s’ (named after the island of her birth) father. “A girl!’, he cried out. “I have a baby girl!” He declared to the world with tears of joy staining his cheeks. The cheer continued with the dragonbloods around the house, then guardsmen, and then even the mob that had come to prevent this miracle, even they cheered.

The curse WAS false, the child was born and the Empire had not appeared to destroy them, but as the euphoria passed and normalcy reasserted itself the guardsmen, the once angry mob, the bystanders, everyone realized… they had nearly destroyed themselves, what did the Empire even matter if they could be convinced to kill each other by their own fear.

Needless to say, quite a few people on the island would spend more than a few sleepless nights worrying about what could have happened…

Later…

Xion woke up with a groggy start to the smell of fresh coffee. As wakefulness flooded into her mind so did memory. She remembered casting the spell, she remembered the baby’s cry, and at some point after that, she must have passed out from the strain of the magic.

A short while later Radais arrived and knocked on her door. “Ah, you’re awake.”

“Kinda…” Xion replied as she struggled to ease herself up. “Did … did it work?”

“It did, yes. Xion… thank you for saving my island.” Radais spoke with deep and sincere gratitude.

Xion breathed a sigh of relief then let out a worried squeak as she began searching the pockets of her robe. “Wait… where-where are they?” Where are the gemstones!? Had she dropped them when she passed out?

“The gemstones?” Radais asked. “I have them, Larxene made sure to secure them after you passed out. No need to worry.” The Dragon Prince pulled a chair up next to her bed and helped Xion sit up so she could drink the coffee he bought for her.

“I’m sorry I had to use them…” Xion began. The Dragon Gemstones worked like wellsprings; their power could be drawn out and it would replenish after a few days. Unfortunately, until the gems were fully recharged, they would be unusable.

“Don’t be.” Radais cut her apology short. “You did the right thing.”

As Xion drank her coffee Radias told her about the encounter with the metal assassin and the situation in Slahan. Xion was shocked to hear what they discovered but was relieved to know her friends were alright. Radais offered to let Xion rest on the island, but she wouldn’t hear of it. So the next day the Dragon Prince and his guardsmen friends departed their Dragon Haven once again, for far and away there was a kingdom to be saved and an evil empire to be stopped.