Anders nodded. He glanced over his shoulder and asked Nadir, “What of the kurr who escaped?”
“Taken care of,” Nadir said, sheathing his sword. “My soldiers are in pursuit as we speak. Kurr are quick, but elves are faster. They’ll dispatch them soon enough.”
Anders looked to the Norfolk woman who held Merglan and Killdoor, “Is he fighting you hard?” he asked.
She shook her head, keeping her eyes fixed on them, “He’s trying to, but he’s not a match for me with the help of this crystal.”
Merglan attempted to speak, the mumbled noise drawing their attention. Anders turned to him, “Let him speak. I want to hear what he has to say.”
Merglan’s glare turned into a snarl as Zorna allowed him to speak. His words spitting with venom, he asked, “What have you done to my crystals?”
“So, it worked; Natalia did find them,” Nadir said. “I questioned it when she hadn’t contacted me. But now,” Nadir scoffed. “You’ll never use magic again. Where you’re going you won’t be needing it.”
Anders stepped closer to Merglan, “What did you do to my father?”
Merglan’s snarl turned into a malicious grin and he started to laugh.
Frustrated with his response, Anders raised Lazuran into a striking position and repeated, “What have you done with my father?” the deadly bite in his tone stung even his ears. Anders’ heart raced as he looked down at the kneeling sorcerer, trapped in a magic he could not break. The hate he held for Merglan boiled inside him and he saw the glowing light of the sapphire pommel in his hand. All he had to do was let the rage in and he could destroy his enemy.
“Do it, boy,” Merglan whispered. “Let the hate in and take my head.”
Anders stared at him, shaking as he envisioned Lazuran swiping cleanly through his neck.
“I know you can still feel a piece of me inside you. Let it out to play and show them all what you really are,” Merglan taunted.
Anders hated the man kneeling before him. Struggling with the emotions surging through him, Anders asked through clenched teeth, “Where’s Ivan?” Anders drowned out the sound of the others shouting at him to put down his sword and waited for Merglan to respond.
“What I did to Prince William, I should’ve done a long time ago. One day I’ll do the same to you,” Merglan paused, his grin fading to a scowl. In a voice only Anders could hear, he said, “I sent him straight to hell. Your pals in Brookside will be joining him soon. Too bad there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”
Anders fought his instinct to pass Lazuran through Merglan’s neck and asked, “Who do you mean by my pals in Brookside?”
Merglan spat at Anders, hitting him in the face, mocking him for what he’d done to Merglan weeks before.
Anders shouted at Merglan as he again raised his sword, preparing to kill. Among all the cries from those behind him urging him to stop, the only voice he heard was Merglan’s as he screamed, “Do it!”
Anders swung the sword, intentionally missing as it passed well over Merglan’s head. Heaving, he pulled Lazuran back to his side and slid it into his scabbard. Despite his desire to kill the sorcerer right then and there, he knew deep down that if he did, he would end up just like the man at his feet. Anders turned and strode away from the sorcerer. “He’s sent the other rider after my family,” he said, walking over to Nadir and Maija.
“We have to stop him,” Maija said.
Anders looked to the Norfolk woman, his new-found ally, “Can you restrain him as he’s moved back to the prison?”
“With this amount of control,” she said, nodding to the necklace. “I could control him and the dragon all of the way to Northland if you wanted.”
“Let’s send him back to the cells in Cedarbridge. The Council will have to let us in with a prisoner like this. We’ll lock him away in a cell so deep he’ll never see the light of day again,” Nadir said sternly.
“Good. Maija and I will take care of the other rider,” Anders said, moving toward Zahara.
After taking a moment to examine Zahara’s superficial wounds, he and Maija took to their saddles and began their pursuit of the escaped rider.
Chapter 68
The Rider in Black
Tightening his grip on the saddle, Anders lowered himself against Zahara’s neck as she gained speed. The new rider who had rammed them with his dragon during the kurr attack had taken off before they could capture him. Anders pictured the stranger in his mind; he rode a green dragon and wore black leathers. As he and Zahara searched the western horizon, Anders hoped this unknown dragon wouldn’t be able to out-fly them to Brookside. The last he’d heard from his friends and family, they were headed to Grandwood, but with Merglan’s reach expanding to Nagano and the Everlight Kingdom, Anders feared that the evil sorcerer’s control had likely reached Westland as well. All they could do now was hunt for the lone rider who’d flown toward the towering mountains that marked the boundary between human and elf nations.
There, in the distance, Zahara said, pointing out the distant dot moving against the mountainous backdrop through their telepathic link. The rider’s outline was unrecognizable at such a distance, but the dark shape moved slowly as it shifted position.
“We’ve got a location on him!” Anders shouted to Maija, who rode low against Raffa’s neck. He pointed ahead and Maija nodded.
Locating the rider fired Anders and Zahara with renewed vigor. Increasing her speed, Zahara pulled ahead of Raffagaun. Glancing over his shoulder minutes later, Anders saw the large red dragon struggling to keep up with Zahara’s more aerodynamic form. Each time Anders turned to check on them, Raffa and Maija had fallen farther behind to a point where Anders feared they wouldn’t be of any use when he and Zahara caught up with the unfamiliar rider.
I still see them, Zahara’s voice entered Anders’ mind. We’re gaining on them.
I want to catch them before they get to those mountains, Anders said. It will be hard to follow their flight path if they disappear among the peaks. If that rider is smart, they will use the peaks and valleys to their advantage to lose us.
And if they’re not smart? Zahara asked.
Then we will catch them in the open skies.
As they sped over the elven forest, Anders replayed the events of their encounter with Merglan. Starting from the moment of their arrival in Cedarbridge, he worked through all that had happened to them until that moment. Anders felt a sense of unease about how the events had unfolded. Reaching out to his dragon, he said, Zahara, did you find it odd how easily we captured Merglan and Killdoor?
Before she responded, Anders could sense that she shared his feelings about it. We trained hard over the months leading up to this and when last we met them, we narrowly escaped, she said.
And that was with Ivan’s help, Anders added.
It all happened so quickly, she said. Suddenly they were there. It was like they were waiting for just the right moment to attack.
If Merglan wanted to kill us then, why did he let that rider strike first? Why didn’t he just take us out then? Anders asked.
