End of Book Three
Rise of the Dragonriders
Book Four
Chapter 72
Hard Magic
Merglan slammed his gloved fist onto the oak table, cracking it in two. The magic within him gave him strength that surpassed his tall and slender appearance. Blinding rage pressed against him like a wall of overflowing water against floodgates. His vision blurred around the edges as he shook with fury. Clenching his fists, he tried to regain control of himself. As he fought his blurring vision, he vaguely saw the three sorcerers step away from him.
He spoke through the clouding anger that nearly consumed him, “I need access to the true source. Now!”
Fealthingar, one of the silver-haired elves he’d freed from the Cedarbridge prison, stood tall in his attempts control his trembling in Merglan’s presence. He answered, “The key is in the heart of the city; that is all we know.”
Merglan had now smothered his rage enough to see clearly. Lifting his gaze to meet the eyes of his new servants, he said through clenched teeth, “Not good enough.”
“I can feel it,” Hawth urged, joining his fellow sorcerer’s side and backing his statement with fervor. “It’s here my Lord.”
Reaching under the High Council’s table and channeling a pulse of power into this arm, Merglan lifted the table, throwing it across the room at them. The two sorcerers raised their defense, but it was Glanthor who deflected the table, sending it crashing against the tree’s side wall. The third sorcerer strolled toward Merglan with a fury to match the Dark Lord’s and shouted, “Don’t treat my riders like they’re incompetent. We have fought far worse than…” Before he could complete his threat, their commander’s voice was replaced with choking gurgles.
Merglan used magic to grab the dragonrider by the throat. He lifted the commander off the floor and eyed the elf with disdain. His gaze darted to the other two, who shifted uneasily before him. Releasing his victim, Merglan dropped Glanthor to the floor. “I can’t waste any more time trying to unlock this city’s magic. I need it if we’re going to bend this world to my knees.” He stepped closer to Glanthor, who scooted on his rear back toward his fellow elf riders. “I didn’t ask you where you thought the true source was: I already know that. What I need is to unlock it so that I can access the pure magic within.”
Fealthingar and Hawth helped Glanthor to his feet. Hawth asked, “Then why order us here? You know we can’t access the true source. If we could, we would’ve been locked away.”
Merglan rubbed his gloved hand over his forehead, massaging his aged skin. “I need you three to do something else for me, something that will provide me with enough energy to blow a hole right through the barriers surrounding it.”
“You think you can do that?” Fealthingar asked, sounding hopeful.
Merglan glared at him and he startled. “Here’s what I need you three to do…”
Chapter 73
A Flight of Dragons
Smoldering remnants from the battlefield swirled through the air causing Anders’ concentration to lapse momentarily. The acrid scent summoned clear visuals of Raffagaun and Zahara burning their enemies and charring away what Anders thought until moments ago was the last battle in this war. Through the bond he shared with his dragon, Zahara, Anders sensed that she, too, suddenly felt the terrible evil that appeared to be pushing so many dragons to flock on the horizon. He sensed her fear, the same fear he saw in her eyes when he’d met her for the first time, alone and on the run from Merglan’s expansion into the dragon homeland of Nagano.
Why are they flying north? Anders asked, motioning through their thoughts to the swath of dragons flying over the mountains to the north.
With her purple eyes fixed on the snowcapped peaks, Zahara answered, Whatever is displacing that many dragons can’t be good. I haven’t seen anything like this since I fled Nagano with my parents. Even then, the flock was much smaller. She paused, then added, It’s strange: when I see that many dragons flocking, my instincts tell me to join them.
Could it be a migration? Anders asked, wondering whether dragons actually migrated.
Before Zahara could respond, Tarron, the soul inside Lazuran’s crystal, answered, There has never been a dragon migration in Kartania. Dragons usually do not group up in such numbers to form a flock, but can do so if desperate or out of self-defense. Even in such rare circumstances they will travel to a safe location and remain there, which is not the same as a migration.
Anders glanced down at his sword, a gift named Lazuran offered to Anders when its original dragonrider owner had been killed by Merglan. Strange as it may seem, Anders thought briefly, he had come to rely upon the advice of the soul, Tarron, who resided in a crystal in the sword’s pommel.
After all, I’ve witnessed over the past six months, anything is possible, Anders said moving his gaze to Maija. She stood staring at the flock, a blank expression on her tan face, her long amber hair swirling in the wind. Anders could see that she was lost in conversation with Raffa. Is that what I look like when I’m talking to Zahara? he wondered.
Your mindspeak face is much more absent, Tarron remarked, his witty voice barging into Anders’ thoughts.
What do you know? Anders retorted. And I thought I told you to stay out of my thoughts.
We should go ask where they’re going, Zahara interrupted.
Not giving Tarron a chance to speak, Anders agreed, You’re right. If there’s something that’s happened in Nagano or the sanctuary in the Everlight Kingdom, we should know.
Zahara nodded, Maija and Raffa should come with us. In case we need backup, she clarified.
Anders touched on Maija’s mind, Zahara and I are going to see what’s got the dragons so spooked.
Raffa is already on his way back from his hunt, Maija replied. We’ll be ready.
After severing his connection with Maija, Anders noticed Kirsten jogging in from the battlefield. Slowing to a walk, she asked, pointing toward the mountains, “Have you seen that?”
Anders nodded, “Maija and I are going to check it out. Can you help spread the word to be on guard? I know Merglan’s no longer a threat, but he might’ve had enough influence on the dragons in Nagano to cause trouble. I wouldn’t want everyone thinking all of the danger has passed only to have angry dragons descend on us.”
Kirsten nodded, then added, “They still haven’t found the crystals.”
“We’ll find them. Right now, I want people to be aware that there could be more action to come,” Anders said.
Kirsten turned back to tell the others of their new priorities. Maija stepped over to Anders’ side while Raffa soared into view. She wondered aloud, “Do you think this is Kodoulen’s doing?”
It hadn’t been long ago that Anders and Maija had escaped the threat of the aggressive leader of Nagano’s Collective of Free Dragons for Dragons, known as C.F.D.D. to dragons. They worried that Kodoulen was leading his band of dragons beyond their normal territory to the east.
Shrugging, Anders replied, “Could be. He was coming after us; maybe he and his dragons realized that we slipped past them? With the elves busy locking Merglan away, cleaning up the kurr, and sorting out their unstable politics, it’s possible they could’ve let their guard down and allowed Kodoulen to cause a conflict.”
