Killingsworth looked at the body of the young male dragon. He didn't quite know what to think. He knew that humans liked to cook the meat that they ate over a fire. It looked like someone had cooked Rolf but then decided not to eat him. Another strange thing was that nothing except the area immediately under the dragon was burned. There was no sign of external fuel having been employed. Nothing natural was responsible for this. It had to be dragon fire. Killingsworth suddenly got a strange thought. This was like the historical stories that Mo-Rung had been talking about. Stories from long long ago. Before the lake. Before even the end of the war. Dragons had been burned alive with a spell. It had led to the dragon race's complete capitulation. It had also led to five hundred years of slavery. Mo-Rung had told him that they never again had to be concerned about that spell killing dragons. Ardwella, Lothinar's mother had spent hundred of years eradicating everyone that knew that spell from existence. She said that she had killed every single one of them. Now this dead young dragon he was looking at was evidence to the contrary. It looked to Killingsworth like Rolf had been killed by elven magic.
Killingsworth jumped into the air. He needed to talk to someone about this. Ardwella would know. He began flying toward Delora Natine. Ardwella had a position as the dragon high priestess. She was the acting emissary between the dragons and other peoples. She might know something about this. As he flew, he marveled at the changes in his body that made flying possible. How many sad years had been wasted living in that lake. How many years had he tolerated the agents of Argent taking the eggs of his people to steal dragon magic.
The human King and few good elves had helped the dragons stop the evil Emperor at last. Killingsworth was ashamed that he had been one of the council of elders that had tried to kill Tundor for looking more like a real dragon. He had actively fought against the process of his own emancipation. He would never forget his foolishness. Ardwella’s son Lothinar had set all the lake dragons free. His magic had given them back their wings and their future. He and the other previous water dragons owed that entire family a great deal. Now he needed their help again.
Arriving at Delora Natine, Killingsworth learned that Ardwella wasn't currently at the temple so he quickly flew over to the dairy. He knew that she often spent time there as well. He found and spoke with the Half-Elf Ronniflass who owned the dairy that had been turned into a baby dragon nursery. Killingsworth at last learned where he might find Ardwella. Her actual home was just a few miles away in the small elven outpost of Tasumakoji. He found himself following the directions Ronniflass gave him and flying once again to continue his search for answers.
On his way he saw a very unusual sight. Flying high above the road he saw two small dragons running along behind a horse. Killingsworth found that more than unusual. Flying a bit lower and circling around he saw that on the horse was Ardwella's husband Albarad. Behind him sat a young girl wearing a white dress. Things could not get much stranger. Killingsworth flew over them again, circled around and landed in the road in front of them. The horse shied and reared almost upsetting the riders. Albarad somehow managed to keep both of the horses's riders from falling off. He glared at Killingsworth.
"What do you want?" he yelled at the dragon.
”You are Albarad. Your mate is Ardwella. Your son is Lothinar.” The dragon stated. It did not sound like he was asking questions.
“That’s right” said Albarad. He stared in surprise as the large male dragon lowered his head and dropped himself onto the dirt of the road in supplication. The two small dragons that had caught up and stopped behind Albarad’s horse looked at the much larger grey with obvious interest.
"What are you doing?" asked Albarad. "Get up. You're blocking the road."
"I wished to show my respect." said the grey dragon. "My name is Killingsworth. Your family has done more for my people than any other. We owe you a great debt. I fear that once again we need your help."
"I don't know how I can be of any help to you." said Albarad. "I am also rather busy right now."
"That dragon obviously needs our help" said Heirwynn from behind him. If I understand what he is saying correctly."
"One rescue at a time Heirwynn." said Albarad with a grin. "In my experience that's the only way that you can avoid being at the constant beck and call of others."
"Am I to be considered your only current rescue then?" she asked.
”Active ones at least, yes. I have a couple of elven sisters and a few more horses that have graduated from active rescue status but are still with me undergoing healing and rehabilitation. I’ll soon have a new baby. That will probably take up some time”
As Albarad did the internal math he suddenly realized that he had broken his own rule of one. Hadn’t he just been on his way to kill a dragon trying to save his unborn daughter? How had he let himself be so distracted? He would need to drop off Heirwyn at home with Muina and immediately head back. He needed to kill Platinum!
"It wasn't that long ago that Platinum was trying coerce you into marrying ugly old King Enderline. " he said to Heirwyn with a frown.
Heirwynn groaned. "Yes it suppose it did appear that I needed some saving." she said. "Thank you for helping a perfect stranger."
"You are not a stranger" Heirwynn. "You're just a friend that I hadn't met yet."
Heirwynn smiled at that. "Cantrell is going to be glad that I finally made another elf friend." she said.
"You know Cantrell?" Albarad asked somewhat surprised. "He's actually my son in law. Although that's a story for another time. We need to get this dragon out of the road so we can pass."
"Enderline's not ugly at all actually" said Heirwynn, "It was just that nobody asked me. They just started assuming. And He is already married. That was a dealbreaker."
"It does take someone a bit special to keep more than one woman satisfied." said Albarad. Then he coughed nervously.
Killingsworth had just been lying there watching them. He seemed fascinated, as did the baby dragons.
"Can you at least take me to Ardwella?" he asked.
"I can." said Albarad. "But I have to warn you. She is not feeling her best right now. If she isn't feeling any better I'm not going to let you speak with her. You will have to come back another time."
"Is it far?" asked Killingsworth.
"Not really." said Albarad. "We would have already arrived if you hadn't gotten in our way on the road."
"Then I will walk.” Said Killingsworth. “Perhaps you should introduce me to your other dragon friends here who are obviously not being rescued."
"We are definitely not being rescued" said Night-Sky. "We are Heirwynn's backup. Just in case Albarad is not what he seems"
"HEY!" said Albarad. "I'm trustworthy. "I have a long history of performing successful rescues.”
"He probably is actually trustworthy" said Killingsworth. He and his family have an excellent reputation with all the dragons."
Albarad got a strange and worried look on his face. "Uh. Thank you Killingsworth."
Killingsworth got up and shook off the dust. That unfortunately left Albarad and Heirwynn coughing.
"Sorry!" said the grey dragon. "This dust situation is quite new to me. I grew up in the lake after all."
Albarad guided his horse around the large dragon. It took some doing. The horse seemed quite nervous about it.
"Is your horse afraid of Dragons Albarad" asked Killingsworth.
Albarad nodded. "Star had a bad experience some time back. It was a misunderstanding. Being around you will be good for her."
The strange caravan of horse and dragons continued up the road.
"Why are you grey?" Albarad heard Night-Sky asking Killingsworth. Albarad had decided to walk the horse the rest of the way back. He let Heirwynn continue to ride.
"As I said, I started life as a lake dragon." said Killingsworth. "We are the dragons that Argent had been keeping in the lake to take our eggs and steal our magic. That was before Albarad's family freed us and gave us new hope."
"It might be possible for my sister and I to re-infuse you with additional magic. Not immediately of course. We have some other work we will probably have to do first. You could probably get back very close to what you were originally intended to be. " said Night-Sky.
"Nobody ever mentioned that." said Killingsworth. "What color dragon do you think I am supposed to be?"
"There is really no way to know at this point." said Night-Sky.
"Blue" said Heirwynn. "Snow thinks that you are going to be a blue."
Albarad gave her a look.
Heirwyn shrugged. “It’s just a feeling I have.”
As they rode up to the barn Muina came rushing out of the house. She looked with surprise at the girl in the wedding dress on Star and the three dragons standing behind her before finding her voice.
"Thank goodness you're back! How did you know to bring back a black and white pair? They might actually be able to save the both of them. Ardwella and her baby are in bad shape. Lets get the dragons inside right away!"
"What happened?" asked Albarad. He felt his panic rising.
"She had the baby. Not only is the baby too small to be safely born, Now Ardwella won't wake up!' Muina quickly dashed back into the house.
Albarad looked at Heirwynn. "It looks like now I am the one that needs rescuing."
Heirwynn jumped down off the horse. She walked over to Snow and looked into her eyes. A moment or two passed. Then she turned and pursued Muina through the front door and into the house. The little white and black dragons followed quickly behind her.
"See!" Albarad heard Night-Sky say. "Except for meeting Killingsworth it turned out exactly like Platinum said it would."
Albarad felt a chill.
"Hey Killingsworth." said Albarad. "What do you know about Platinum Dragons?"
"I heard that they are very smart." said Killingsworth. "Maybe since your wife is busy I should ask the Platinum about how the dead dragon I found up in the hills got burned without any fire around. She might have some ideas."
"You should do that." said Albarad. "Let me know what she says. It's sounds like quite a mystery."
”Maybe you should come with me.” Said Killingsworth. “I can offer you a ride!”
”If I wasn’t so worried about Ardwella right now I would probably take you up on that.” Said Albarad.
"I'll be sure to let you know if I find out anything." said Killingsworth. "I still want to talk with Ardwella about an old spell that she supposedly spent a long time dealing with. I’m sure I’ll be back.”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Albarad stepped away quickly as Killingsworth spread his wings. Then the big grey dragon once again jumped into the air.
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"There it is. The Island of Sivantra." said Vanquish.
The two blue dragons had stopped their cheerful banter hours ago to save their energy for the last part of the flight. It was always the hardest. They had been in the air for over a day and a half. They had flown very fast. When Candasar had last made this trip with Lothinar it had taken over two days. That was an almost unheard of amount of time to remain in the air. Only magic made it possible.
Candasar could see the faint outline of the coast far off in the distance yet, but it was at last in sight. They were going to make it. She had thought that, especially as she had gotten closer that she might hear from Lothinar. Instead it was Firestorm that finally made contact through their shared bond with Lothinar.
"Candasar is that you? I feel you. What are you doing back here so soon?" she asked.
"Firestorm! Are you ok? Where is Lothinar?"
"Oh, I'm fine. I'm eating a goat. Have you ever tried goat Candasar. They might be a little small for you, but their just right for me. Really tasty. They live all over the really tall rocks around here. You really ought to try one."
"Is Lothinar Ok?"
"Oh yeah, sure. He and Ardwynn went out to a party. Can you believe it? No Dragons allowed. They should be back soon. He'll be really glad to see you I'm sure. Why'd you come back?"
"Listen Carefully Firestorm. Something very bad must have happened. Lothinar called for help!"
"He called you from the party? I let him out of my sight for a a few hours....Wait a minute. It's a really long flight here. You must have been flying a long time. He must have called you quite a while ago. He didn't tell me that he needed help and I'm right here! Doesn't he trust me? I really trying not to be offended right now!"
"Slow down Firestorm. I need to ask you a question." said Candasar.
"Sure. Go ahead."
"How do you feel about Ardwynn right now.?"
"Oh, she's fine I mean I had my reservations at first. But after she really explained it me, how she made a mistake. I didn't think it was worth being mad at Lothinar's wife. She's going to be part of his life for a long time, so I did the right thing. I decided to forgive her. It made Lothinar happier. We've been good ever since."
"She explained to you how she just happened to subjugate Tundor and order him to kill Mavis and then subsequently caused my cousin Aleena's death? "
"Well it does sound kind of bad when you put it that way, but she's sorry."
"Did she have Lothihar's sword when she was talking to you about that?" asked Candisar.
"Well, yes, but she was just bringing it back to Lothinar. He accidentally left it in under the couch."
"Ok Firestorm. I'll be there in a few more minutes. Are you and Lothinar still staying at the ambassador's mansion?"
"Yes, but like I said neither of us are there right now. He's at a party and I'm hunting goats. I could bring you one if you want. Your missing out. I'm definitely bringing you one. You're going to be hungry after your long trip"
"I will see you at the Villa Firestorm." said Candasar.
"I was just able to talk to Firestorm." said Candasar to Vanquish. "She's completely brainwashed. Ardwynn definitely used the red sword on her."
"Well that was what we expected after all." said Vanquish.
"Lothinar is out somewhere at a party with Ardwynn." said Candisar, "That doesn't sound like something he would do without being influenced as well."
"He's not enough dragon yet to be susceptible to the red swords influence" said Vanquish. "He must be feeling Firestorm's recent goodwill toward Ardwynn through their bond. I didn't think Firestorm had that much influence over him."
"I don't think you really understand how much Lothinar wants what Firestorm is feeling about Ardwynn to be true. You were not around when they were actually together. Lothinar didn't give his heart easily but when he did, he gave it completely. When she showed her true colors it almost destroyed him."
"That's going to make what we are probably going to have to do that much worse. You understand that don't you." asked Vanquish.
"She may be the only one who actually knows where the sword is" said Candasar. "We can't kill her until we know where it is."
"She can't have hidden it that well. It's got to be close to the Villa." said Vanquish. "Lothinar might be able to find it if he really wanted to. He and Crimson are linked."
"Can we use the sword to undo what Ardwynn did to Firestorm? She actually seems to like her now."
"I could actually do that without the sword." Vanquish asserted. "But it will take more time."
"Then we don't give her a chance to use the sword on us. We need to kill her on sight." said Candasar somehow finding the energy to pump her wings a little faster.
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Cantrell had actually never been to the house in the hills where Tundor was staying but Mo-Rung had. He had walked there when he was searching for Firestorm. Technically it was Ronni's house and maybe the Queen's. It had been past down to them from their father who had been an Elven ambassador to Sivantra even before Argent had become emperor. Now she and Lothinar planned to make their home their after things settled down. Because of Lothinar's bond to Candasar Ronni had almost insisted that she feel free to use the place to hatch her eggs.
Flying over the forest on their approach to the place things looked quiet. Cantrell had almost breathed a sigh of relief when he heard a loud roar from coming just up ahead. It could only be a dragon roar. Mo-Rung had obviously heard it too. He accelerated into a dive. Cantrell saw the door of the house fly open. Siophra came running out at top speed. She was headed straight to the barn. Three dark clad figures were just exiting the main door. From their build they appeared to be elves. Two appeared to be male. One of them that was a lot smaller seemed to be trying to carry something. It looked like a dragon egg. The larger figures flanked her protectively. The center figure saw Siophra running toward them and shifted the egg to a single hand and pointed a finger at the beautiful running elf. There was a crackle and a bolt of electricity shot off her hand. It wasn't nearly as strong as the ones Cantrell had seen cast during the battle between Lothinar and Argent but the effect was devastating. Siophra went rigid. Her legs stopped running and she fell forward. Her forward movement carried her body to the ground where she slid, eventually un-stiffening and coming to a stop. She didn't move.
That's when Mo-Rung hit the three dark clad elves. They had been watching Siophra and not the sky. From Cantrell's perspective things seemed to strangely slow down. In slow motion Mo-Rung's two front talons impacted and completely destroyed the bodies of the two males, rending them into bloody pieces. His jaw bit down on the head and face of the center elf. She was a female. Cantrell only had a gliimpse of her eyes frozen in shock as her head was completely ripped away. Her surprised body stood for a few seconds before it slowly began to crumple down. Cantrell rolled as he was actually thrown forward from the sudden and violent stop. He twisted in the air and tried to get his body beneath the falling egg. Their was a surprising amount of spraying blood about. He was covered in it. It was very slippery. He missed. The egg hit the ground with a loud crack. Cantrell landed flat on his back on the hard ground. The air left his lungs with a loud swoosh. He couldn't seem to get any of it back. Tundor suddenly ran out of the barn. He had a huge black scorch mark on his chest. He looked dazed and desperate. He looked at the bodies of the three dead elves. He turned to Cantrell and started to charge the downed elf before quickly stopping just shy of stomping on him.
"Mo-Rung! Cantrell!" What are you doing here?
Some air finally found its way back into Cantrell's lungs.
"Came to warn you!" he gasped.
"Is that all of them?" asked Mo-Rung."
"I'm not actually sure." said Tundor. "But I only saw three,"
"I"m going to search the area by air." said Mo-Rung growling in fury. He leapt into the air. His wings beat furiously as he climbed over the pasture and cleared the trees. An avenging god dripping in bloody red. He began to make a spiral search.
"Check on the eggs" said Esmarilla through the bond. That startled Cantrell a bit. Esmarilla was a long way away and yet she seemed to know what had transpired without him even telling her.
"Are the other eggs still in the barn Tundor?" Cantrell asked. "You had three eggs up here right?"
Tundor looked at the large golden egg laying on the ground next to Cantrell.
"The other two eggs hatched yesterday." he said. "Siophra had the baby dragons with her in the house. She was feeding them some meat pieces. Only the gold egg was left in the barn."
"Siophra!" Cantrell shouted. He wobbled to his feet and ran to where he saw her fall. She was unconscious but still breathing. He scooped her up and swayed with the effort. She felt heavy.
"I'm going to take her in the house." said Cantrell. He swayed his way across the yard and through the still open door. He passed through the kitchen on the way to one of the bedrooms. He disturbed two very small dragons that had been eating some meat pieces under the kitchen table. They looked at him with solemn eyes. Two little blues. A male and a female. Cantrell continued on to the bedroom and as gently as possible laid Siophra on the bed. She still hadn't moved. Her blonde hair was singed. and there was a nasty burned blister mark on her forehead. As he was sitting next to her and watching her, she suddenly and quietly stopped breathing.
Tundor was left alone in the yard. He looked at the golden egg. It had a big crack down the side. He positioned himself as best he could to put his ear next to the egg. It took a few tries. It put him in an awkward position. He listened. He didn't hear anything. He pushed the egg with his snout. It moved easily. Too easily. Tundor pushed the egg again. It was very light. It didn't seem like anything was inside the shell at all. Tundor extended a toenail and carefully pressed it into the crack. He took his other claw and did the same creating a way to pull at the shell. It resisted but suddenly fell into two jagged pieces. There was nothing inside! Then came another shock. The bond that Tundor had shared with Siophra since that day in the forest when they first joined began to fade. Tundor had been unconscious when Vanquish had ended his bond with Ardwynn so he didn't remember much about it. He felt this. It wasn't painful but Siophra's presence just softly slipped away leaving Tundor once again alone with his own thoughts. He began to weep. Huge dragon tears began to flow. First his egg and now Siophra. This was too much to bear!
In the bedroom there was a sudden intake of breath. Actually a gasp. Cantrell turned his downcast eyes toward the beautiful elf that he had just watched die. Her eyes were wide open and she was staring at him. Her eyes were gold. They didn't look like Siophra's eyes at all. She swung her feet off the bed and onto the floor and quickly stood. There was a mirror on the wall. Golden eyed Siophra walked over to it and touched her face. She looked at the burned mark on her forehead. She pressed her hand against it and in a few seconds removed it. The blistered burn was gone, although a black soot mark still remained. She spun back around and looked at Cantrell.
She spoke. Her voice was beautiful. It was like a sweet melody. It was haunting and filled with power. It made Cantrell’s knees shake.
"Thank you for your assistance earlier. It is unfortunate that you arrived a few moments too late."
"I am sorry." said Cantrell. "We got here as quickly as we could."
"We have made the necessary adjustments" she said.
"I don't understand what you mean?" said Cantrell.
"All will be explained in time." said Siophra.
"What can I do to help you now?" asked Cantrell. "Is there anything you need?"
"Yes, Thank you for asking" she said.
“Please take me to Tundor" she said. "Take me to my father."
Cantrell just stared. Then he slowly reached out and gently took her hand. He began to lead her outside.
"Now that's a new one" said Esmarilla.
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When Lothinar had left the party abruptly. It had caught Michelle by surprise. She had thought that they had found something special while they were dancing together. Their chemistry was undeniable. She had never been quite so attracted to someone. Were all elves this handsome and appealing? There were stories from a while back about the elven ambassador taking a human wife. Enderline's Queen Pricilla was half elf herself. Michelle could feel the pull of wanting to get to know Lothinar much better. She had followed several of the other girls that had danced with Lothinar back to the ambassador's villa. They also must have had similar ideas of trying to take things further. All of the ladies had been turned away at the door. It seemed that Lothinar and his pregnant wife had not come straight home. They were told that if they wanted to speak with Lothinar any further they would have to come back tomorrow. The rest reluctantly left, vowing to return. Michelle stayed. She had seen something that they had not. The red dragon Firestorm was pacing around out in the garden. She seemed to be looking up anxiously at the sky. Michelle slipped into the garden and walked toward the red dragon. On her way across the lawn she almost stepped on a dead goat lying in the shadows. Michelle almost shrieked but didn't. She wasn't going to let something like a dead goat ruin her chances. She was in love.
"Hello dragon. Are you looking for Lothinar?" Michelle asked. "Its not easy to see very much standing out here in the dark."
"Not really" said Firestorm. "Lothinar had to do some work in the garden shed."
"He's in there right now?" asked Michelle
"He sure is. Ardwynn is with him."
"His pregnant wife?" confirmed Michelle. "I saw her at the party. She's very pretty."
Firestorm gave Michelle a discerning look. "It's probably strange to hear me say this, but I think she looks quite a bit like you." said Firestorm. "I mean your a human and she's an elf of course."
"I'm flattered." said Michelle. "She is obviously very beautiful. It's nice to know that if Lothinar has a type I might be in the strike zone."
"Are you interested in him too? Wow. All the other women that showed up tonight were obsessed with finding him. It's probably why he is still hiding in the shed."
"Why are you out here? It makes it kind of obvious that he's probably close by."
"Actually another one of our family is going to be coming back here soon. It is kind of a surprise. I'm not really supposed to talk about it. She wanted to surprise Ardwynn in particular."
"And you are supposed to get her away from Lothinar for the surprise."
"Yeah, I'm supposed to see if I can get her to come of of the shed and stand here in the garden. Sort of like you are now in fact."
There was a whoosh and from the sky filled with darkness a huge blue blur flashed through the garden. Michelle was gone. Firestorm heard an eerie high pitched screaming start and then fade into the night.
Candasar dropped down next to Firestorm in the garden.
"We got her!" she said under her breath. "Good job Vanquish!"
"Vanquish is here too?" asked Firestorm. "Wow. That's how you were able to make it here. I wasn't sure how you could do that flight all by yourself. Are you hungry? I brought you a goat."
"Maybe later. Where is Lothinar?" asked Candasar.
"He's in the shed over there with Ardwynn. I'm sorry I couldn't get her to come out."
"Who did Vanquish just snatch up then?"
"A nice human lady named Michelle. Actually I think she might be here because she got exposed to Lothinar while he was dancing tonight. Sort of like Ronni was I guess."
Lothinar stepped out of the garden shed. He was holding a red sword.
"Hi Candasar" he said. "I certainly didn't think I'd be seeing you so soon. How are the eggs?"
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