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Chapter 58

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Ardwella had taken Esmarilla’s departure very hard. She had expected her to have a conversation and demand some concessions, not sever their bond completely!

Didn’t Esmarilla realize that every complicated and painful thing that Ardwella had done was for the sake of the dragons? When she had charged at her, it was a shock. What had she done to illicit such rage in the dragon? Esmarilla might have tried to hurt her if Vanador had not gotten between them. The attempted assault had come so suddenly that Ardwella had not even had time to pull out her father’s sword. Freezing the dragon in place would have been her only defense. Having a dragon as giant as Esmarilla unbound and angry at you was a new experience. It was terrifying! Albarad's standing next to her at the time probably made the black dragon hesitate long enough for Vanador to intercept her charge. For some strange reason, at least lately, it had felt like Esmarilla was fonder of him than of her. She smiled at her husband, who never hesitated to give her his support, well, at least now that he was back in her presence.

Now, she was in Starett’s office dealing with the dragon egg crisis. She had a strange feeling that the usually helpful priest was, for unknown reasons, stalling.

"We need to act immediately. Dragon lives are at stake." Said Ardwella.

"Why should I be listening to you?" asked Starett. "I'm not sure the King has decided to change your sentence."

"Are you the Priest of the Dragon Temple or not!" Ardwella said heatedly. "I've told you I found hundreds of baby dragons still in their eggs in a passageway below the city. Lothinar has inadvertently restarted their biological clocks. Some of them are going to be hatching soon."

"That is unfortunate timing with the Elven Emperor just hours away." Said Starett. "Your father must have gathered them. They have been safe for hundreds of years. Shouldn't we leave them where they are?"

Ardwella thought about it. "If there was a way to determine how long they were away from hatching, we might be able to do that. I might even be able to renew the stasis spell now that I have the blue sword. But some are about to hatch. Albarad and I just returned from down there, and many of the shells are already starting to crack."

"Before we discuss this any further, there is the matter of Womber," said Starett. "We know he helped you escape but hasn't been seen since."

Ardwella gave Starett a strange look. "I didn't think you were that interested in his whereabouts. You are aware of his moral shortcomings.”

"Nonetheless, I am responsible for his well-being. He was in charge here for a long time, and I strongly suspect his going missing has something to do with you."

"If I told you I paid him off, and he took off with the money, would you believe me?"

"Is that what you are telling me?" the young priest asked.

Ardwella looked at her husband, Albarad. She shook her head. "No. Womber is dead."

For some reason, Starett didn't look all that surprised.

"He attacked her in the tunnel. He tried to rape her!” said Albarad. "If it hadn't been for the timely arrival of Lothinar's dragon Firestorm, he would have succeeded. The young dragon killed him with her flame."

"He was an old man!" shouted Starett. "Do you expect me to believe he would lose control of his passions like that?"

"I'm getting dangerously close to losing control of my passions, priest!" said Albarad angrily.

"That would not surprise me considering your past behavior," snipped Starett.

"Someone may have incentivized him," said Ardwella cooly. "I was just trying to convince him to help me escape, but the attempted raping that came later was all his idea."

"You are a danger to males everywhere!" yelled Starett. That finally drew a physical reaction from Albarad. He rapidly closed on the priest and threw a series of blows to his face and body. They all landed hard. The Priest rocked back and fell to the floor, gasping for breath.

"Albarad, please stop!" yelled Ardwella. "We still need his help."

"He was the one that convinced me to leave you here and deliver the horses!' shouted Albarad. "He is responsible for you getting injured! He must be working for the Emperor!"

"First, your husband attacked me at the gates, now in my own office," Wheezed the young priest as he climbed to his feet. "You are no longer bonded to Esmarilla. I don't see why I should give you any further consideration. I'm calling the guards!"

"You want the eggs for Argent!" said Ardwella, suddenly reconsidering Albarad's outburst. She narrowed her eyes at the Priest. "You've been bought. Albarad is right!"

"That's crazy!" said Starett.

"No, it is starting to make sense! The letter you read us that you said came from Womber. You met with the emperor's agents. Yourself. They threatened you or bought you. That has to be it!" she exclaimed.

"I didn't even know about the eggs until a few minutes ago!" protested the priest.

"You didn't know about them when you took over, but since then, you have had time to read over the temple history left by your predecessors. Womber knew about the tunnels and the hidden cache. He didn't know what was in there or didn't care, but you are much smarter than him. More motivated to study the information. There must have been notes..."

The young man who had inherited the job of high priest had a strange look on his face. He looked guilty.

"You don't seriously think we will be able to fight the emperor and defend this place from his magic, do you? I'm still young. I decided a while ago that I don't want to die when the Emperor takes this place." he finally said. "You can't blame me for making a deal."

Ardwella pulled the blue sword free. The priest's eyes grew wide. "You wouldn't!"

A blast of blue flame shot out of the sword, freezing the young priest mid-stride. He had started to run. Starrett's front leg was outstretched, so his body was out of balance. When he seized up, he toppled to the floor.

"That was a handy trick!" said Albarad. "Much better than killing him."

"It doesn't solve our immediate problem, though," said Ardwella. "We need to talk to Lothinar. We must assume that Starett has told the Emperor about the dragon eggs by now. Argent also probably knows where they are. They need to be moved. If Lothinar can't get the queen's cooperation, then it looks like the humans won't be helping. Those eggs will hatch soon, and if they don't get cared for, then we will start losing dragons."

"But how do we move and hide two hundred dragon eggs? He asked.

"With two hundred dragons, of course. The lake end of the tunnel is open. Let’s see if some temple staff can still be reasoned with. Perhaps the queen can persuade them.”

”Let's find our son and tell him what's happened. If she owes anyone a favor, it's him.” Said Albarad, sliding the prone body of Starett out of the path of the door.

-------------------

Vanador was talking to Mo-Rung. "I'm sorry you almost got caught up in my disagreement with my sister Esmarilla."

"Well, I ran into the middle of it. Probably not the smartest thing to do." The red dragon said. "You could make it up to me, though."

"You know, that was more of a 'polite conversation-starting sorry' than an 'I owe you one sorry,'" said the big white dragon laughing.

"I sort of figured as much," said Mo-Rung. "But I hoped you could give me a quick flying lesson anyway. I think I'm going to need to know how to do that soon."

Vanador chuckled. "Yes, you're probably right. We all should probably consider an exit strategy if things go badly. I am worried about my sister. I wouldn't say I like that she has just disappeared on us. Especially her being all by herself with enemies around. Perhaps if you don't mind accompanying me on a quick search for her, we can do both things simultaneously.?"

"Do you need to check in with Siophra?" asked Mo-Rung

"Actually, for the first time in a very long time, I do not." answered the big white with a smile. "But I will anyway. She and I are actually still friends. I wish Esmarilla could find it in her heart to feel that way about Ardwella. They have a lot of history. Of course, I wasn't there for most of it."

"Would you mind if I asked if Mavis could come along? It's kind of something she's been looking forward to," said Mo-Rung.

"Suit yourself," said Vanador. He quickly approached Siophra and explained what he was about to do.

"Be careful out there," Siophra said. "The Emperor is probably closer than you think. Also, thank you for stopping your sister Esmarilla from stomping on my sister Ardwella."

"It probably would never have happened. I know Esmarilla. She probably just wanted to scare her a little. If she really wanted to get through me, you would have known it. You would have seen blood."

"Maybe there is hope," said Siophra.

Soon the two dragons and Mavis were ready to go. Siophra watched Mavis climb up.

"Don't worry. It's much easier to stay on when you are bonded. You can anticipate the dragon's movements better. It's also easier wearing good, thick sturdy clothes." Then she smirked. "Miss Latest Fashions," She couldn't help but add with a smile. "Oh, and get some good boots."

"Mavis grimaced. "Point taken. Thanks."

"Be careful!" said Cantrell as he watched Mavis sitting on Mo-Rung's back. "Maybe I should come along."

"I'm not carrying two elves on my back for my first flight," said Mo-Rung."

Vanador looked at Cantrell and smiled a knowing smile. "I'll take you if you want," said Vanador. "It would be a shame to break up the newlyweds so soon after their wedding."

"We actually didn't get to finish the ceremony," said Cantrell

"That might be a good thing, actually," said Vanador. "The last two people that Starett married did split up pretty quickly afterward."

"Ardwynn and Lothinar!" That's right. Maybe we should find somebody else. That sounds pretty unlucky," said Mavis.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"You're actually going to need to find someone else to perform the ceremony," said Ardwella, walking up. She had Albarad with her. "Starett is not going to be doing weddings for a while. I just froze him in his office for selling us out to Argent."

"What?" exclaimed Cantrell.

"I'll have to explain later. I'm looking for Lothinar right now. Have you seen him?"

"I think he's talking to the King and Queen," said Cantrell.

"Perfect!" said Ardwella. "I'm looking for them too."

"Are you sure you want to find them? Has the king actually rescinded your punishment?" asked Cantrell. "I mean I think the whole thing was a big misunderstanding but I'm not the one you have to convince."

"The last human that tried to stop me from doing what I have to do to finish my father's work is frozen in his office lying on the floor as a doorstop. I'm not letting what my father spent his life to accomplish be undermined by ignorance," said Ardwella with fire in her eyes.

"Then I'm coming with you," smirked Siophra. "Don't you dare say no. The last time I said those words you know what happened."

Ardwella grinned and rubbed the back of her head. "Ok. This time I actually would appreciate the help."

Mavis and Cantrell watched the sisters walk off back toward the gates. Cantrell shook his head as he climbed up on Vanador's back.

"I hope the king is accommodating," said Cantrell.

"Why's that?" said Mavis.

"Both of those sisters are carrying legendary swords," he replied. "I don't think they are going to take no for an answer."

————————

"Hold on said Mo-Rung suddenly, spreading his wings. I'm going to jump!"

"Why don't you take a run up to it" said Vanador. "It's a smoother lift for your rider, and you have the room. Run that way," he gestured. "it's into the wind"

"Good point. Thanks," said Mo-Rung, and he started a forward run. In a few seconds, he spread his wings and pushed off. He got airborne in seconds.

"Whooweee" yelled Mavis.

Cantrell looked down at Vanador, who still had not moved. "Are we going to follow them?"

"Yes,." said Vanador. "But I'm a little choked up. It always makes me really happy when a dragon takes its first flight. They are usually much smaller. Babies, in fact. He's waited a really long time for this."

"You are a really nice dragon. Did anybody ever tell you that?" asked Cantrell.

Vanador looked once again at the elven sisters, who were still walking away. His eyes lingered on Siophra. They finally went inside the city gate. "Yes, someone tells me all the time. Hold on, please." He took a short run and lifted into the air as gently as possible. It didn't take him long to catch up with Mo-Rung, who was still flying a little wobbly. Mavis didn't look like she minded at all. She grinned like a maniac at Cantrell as they pulled alongside.

"And you don't want to bond with a dragon!" she shouted.

"I never said that I wouldn't," he shouted back into the wind. "I just think I need to be sure that it's the right fit."

"What?" she shouted.

Cantrell shrugged and smiled. It was the best he could do under the circumstances.

"You are a very nice elf. Did anybody ever tell you that? asked Vanador with a chuckle. His voice rumbled through Cantrell's whole body in a way that he could understand in spite of the blowing wind."

Cantrell didn't bother to answer because, off in the distance and to the side, he could see a plume of smoke. He pointed. Mavis turned to look and said something to Mo-Rung. They changed course. In just a few more minutes, they could see Argent's army. Both dragons veered to the side, circling wide around the main body of soldiers. Below them, there were fires burning, and the bodies of horses and elves were scatted among the tall grasses of a huge field.

In the middle of the field, encircled by elves carrying long spears, was Esmarilla. She wasn't moving. On a hill a short distance away was an elf clad in very fancy silver armor. It could only be Argent. He was arguing with another elf and pointing at the black dragon. Suddenly, he spotted them and spun towards the flying dragons, lining up his outstretched arms for what could only be a lightning bolt shot. Vanador dived instinctively, but Mo-Rung did not have those reflexes. He flew in a straight line with Mavis on his back. An easy target. Suddenly the elf that had been arguing with Argent pushed him. The shove disrupted something, and the lightning scattered ineffectively. Argent appeared furious and turned on the elf that pushed him shoving him back and to the side. He prepared to fire again, but by then Mo-Rung had followed Vanador into evasive movements. The two dragons seemed to share some very fast unspoken communication and they turned away from the field of battle. They furiously beat their wings as they gained altitude and distance from the threat. A few short minutes later, Vanador gestured for them to land. They quickly did.

"That could have gone much worse," said Cantrell.

"Why did that elf block Argent's shot?" asked Vanador.

"I'm not sure, but I think we owe that one to Mavis," said Cantrell. "Mavis, could you see who that was?"

"I think that was Buscoe," she said. He is... well, was one of my brothers. A different mother, of course. He's the oldest son. It was hard to see from that far away, and it happened pretty fast."

"They were already arguing. Probably about Esmarilla. Hopefully, deciding if they want to take her alive or not. She's obviously at least badly stunned. He must have hit her with lighting too." said Vanador.

"It looks like she did some damage before he knocked her down," said Mavis. "Maybe a hundred dead?"

"Less than that," I"m afraid said Cantrell. "Why would Buscoe intervene for you against his father?"

"Knowing Daddy... Argent, I mean, He probably never told everyone about how he got tricked into raising two illegitimate children in his courts as his own children. He's pretty proud. It would be embarrassing. Buscoe probably didn't know about that. He thought Argent was making a mistake."

"I bet he knows now!" said Cantrell.

"We have to go back!" Vanador said. Esmarilla might still be alive!"

"We will," said Cantrell. "But we need to be smart about this. We don't want to get ourselves shot down like Esmarilla. We need help. It's not that far. Let's go back and get some.!'

"How do we deal with that lightning?" asked Mavis.

"We need Lothinar," said Vanador. "That sword Muina gave him shoots lighting too. It should also be able to absorb it. Anyone carrying it is pretty much going to be immune to Argent's lightning attack."

"We need Vanquish too!" said Cantrell.

"What are we waiting for?" said Mo-Rung, and he jumped into the air.

Vanador was right behind him. This time, Cantrell could barely hang on.

-----------------------------

Argent was furious. His son Buscoe had spoiled the shot. He had also missed earlier in the day when the black dragon had first attacked. That had cost lives. Most of the losses were from his own elite guard, which had been leading the column. The dragon had gotten off three separate blasts killing over fifty troops and about twice as many horses. Argent had been forced to bring the black dragon down with his own magic. He had been trying to save his own power reserves for later or not use them at all. That priest in Delora Natine had promised him a new supply of already gathered eggs to replenish himself, but he had to get there first and gather them. The priest claimed that there was some sort of magical barrier preventing him from doing it himself.

"You saw that the rider on that red dragon was Mavis, didn't you?" yelled Buscoe. His nose was bleeding from the backhand that Argent had smacked him with after interfering with his aim. He quickly used his magic to stop the blood flow but it had soiled the front of his fancy uniform. Not for the first time, he considered retaliation for one of Argent’s fits of pique.

"Never interfere with one of my spells!" yelled Argent back. "

"I didn't think you would want to kill your own daughter? retorted Buscoe."

Argent seethed. He had exposed Mandel's disloyalty but not his pedigree. That had been too embarrassing. He had not even brought up his twin Mavis at all. He had presumed her dead, as Ardwynn had reported. His secrecy had led to Buscoe's error. He decided to lie his way out of it.

"I was targeting the white dragon! He's the one that escaped from my rooftop several weeks ago. He freed one of the prisoners that I had held for a long time when he escaped."

"It looked like you were targeting the red dragon. My apologies," said Buscoe. "It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't. Besides, if that really were Mavis riding that dragon, it would seem that she has joined her twin in acts of disloyalty. I owe her no mercy, and neither should you!”

”If one of our bloodlines has found a way to bond or even ride a dragon, then that information seems to be worth knowing,” said Buscoe. “There may be another way to the immortality we seek besides relying on the eggs. This very conflict emphasizes just how dependent we are on their constant supply.”

“Your cousin Ardwynn and I were working on that solution. She did manage to bond a dragon but couldn’t hold him.”

”And now she is in one of your cells. Is this how you reward the loyalty of your family, Father?” Buscoe dared to ask.

“That brings up another concern of mine. Why did you miss earlier when the black dragon first attacked? I've been wasting my own power because of your ineptitude." snarled Argent. “I’m starting to believe that was not an accident. Perhaps you are in league with the traitors!”

“You know that I am not!” Protested Buscoe.

"Then you tried to insist on trying to capture the black dragon alive. Why not immediately finish her?”

"She may have information that we can use to determine what we will be up against when we get to the lake!" said Buscoe. "That's three very large flying dragons we've seen now. There may be more. Where did they come from? I thought this was a mission to kill a few elven rebels and recapture the water dragons of the lake. Did we bring enough soldiers?"

"The troops are here to deal with the human king and his men." hissed Argent. "Our magic will bring down the dragons and their riders. Just as I brought down that big black one over there that is now surrounded by your forces."

"Yes, I have to admit, she fell quickly when hit by your bolt," said Buscoe. “But all of us are aware that there are no more new eggs to replenish our power. The delay in retaking the lake may prove costly. We need options.”

"The probability of getting information out of her is very low. She fell pretty far and hit very hard, not even taking the electrical damage into account. She won't regain consciousness." boasted the emperor. "Stab her a few times to make sure she’s dead and be done with it."

"Do you mind if I give it a few more minutes to wait and see? It might save lives at the lake," asked Buscoe.

"Lives that you squandered here with your own misplaced shot, Buscoe." said Argent, reminding his new second in command once again of his shortcoming. "I will give you twenty minutes. It will take us that long to calm the horses and reorganize our forces. Then we will finish the dragon and move on."

The Emperor stalked off leaving Buscoe nursing his pride. He turned to his younger brother Byron who had watched the exchange with interest. He looked at him and grimaced with what appeared to be genuine uncharacteristic sympathy.

”I assume you have a few unaccounted-for eggs in your private stash somewhere.” asked Byron.

‘Buscoe looked down on his bloody uniform and nodded, “A few.” He watched as his father continued to walk away. He looked very angry and very old.

“As do I. Save them as long as you can.” He said. “I think we are going to need them. None of us are safe. Father has really lost it this time."

” I would just like to know how many more of those big dragons we are going to have to fight. The only thing that seems to work against them while they are in the air is lightning. That’s a very power-hungry spell.” Said Buscoe.

”Our supply of longbows was burned up when the library exploded and caught the armory on fire. That was bad luck.” Said Byron.

”Or very well-planned strategic sabotage.” Replied Buscoe. “The armory had guards and would have been hard to hit. The library was a soft target and unoccupied. We don’t even know what caused that massive explosion!”

“Are these dragons that smart? Could we be headed into a trap?” Asked Byron nervously. “I don’t think father has told us everything. Nobody has had to fight them In hundreds of years.”

“I hope she wakes up because those are some of the things that I really want to find out.” Said Buscoe as he climbed back on his horse and started riding quickly to where the black dragon had fallen. Then as he suddenly realized how big she actually was up close, he wondered if trying to speak with her was a good idea at all.

———————-

Lothinar was waiting for a chance to talk with the King and Queen. Firestorm, as usual, was sticking with him. She seemed more than willing to give Tundor and Candasar a little bit of privacy. Lothinar was trying to be patient. Since raising the queen from the dead and then inadvertently shutting down every living thing in the entire town, he imagined they had a lot to discuss.

There was a small room off their suite that he was sitting in. They were inside and had not come out for quite a while now. It suddenly occurred to him that they might be renewing their vows of love for one another and expressing them in physical form. He blushed involuntarily. He was probably wrong. He would have to ask Mavis what effect being dead or almost dead had on a woman's sexual libido. Then he changed his mind. He wasn't sure he could ask Mavis that sort of question, even if she was his half-sister. Maybe Cantrell would give him some insights on the matter., for scientific purposes of course. An elf that went around resurrecting folk should probably know things like that.

Ronni was keeping him company while he waited in the ante-room. He had found her here. She, too, had been barred from the inner chamber earlier, reinforcing his suspicions that they weren't just discussing the weather in there. Ronniflass kept looking at him. Her eyes kept traveling from his eyes to his forehead, now covered with dragon bone ridges, and then ending up on his bald head. Then she would guiltily look back. Lothinar had never been particularly self-conscious, but her gaze was making him uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" he finally asked.

There was a long silence.

"Why did that dragon have to change you? she finally asked. "Was it the price that you paid to..." She paused. . "raise my sister from the dead? It hardly seems to have been necessary."

"I don't know," said Lothinar, slightly amused. "Raising someone from the dead isn't something that I've ever done before. Now that you mention it, It seems like there probably would be a cost."

"Don't misunderstand..."Ronni said. "I'm very grateful... And so is she. The King obviously is too. But...You... You were so very handsome before!" she practically wailed.

Suddenly his mother walked into the ante-room. She was followed by his Aunt Siophra.

"Lothinar!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing just sitting around here? We have important things to do!"

"I'm just waiting for the Royalty." He pointed. "They are in there."

His mother didn't hesitate and started moving toward the door. Aunt Siophra followed in her wake.

Ronni jumped up and tried to bar their way, but she was far too late.

"I wouldn't go in there..." Lothinar's warning was unheeded.

Bang! The door was thrown open. His mother and aunt quickly disappeared inside. There was some shrieking and then some yelling. Then there was silence.

"Oh well," said Lothinar as he raised his impressive eyebrows at Roniflass. Then he smiled. "I guess if they really didn’t want to be interrupted, they should have posted a guard."

”Uh, I think that was supposed to be me.” Said Ronni.

“A guard less easily distracted then.”

“That’s true. You still smell fantastic.” She said. “I think I’m really starting to get used to the new look”

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