“Can you describe what the crystals looked like?” Asmond asked Maija.
She cleared her throat, not realizing beforehand that she was going to have to speak during a meeting with the king and queen, “Um,” she started slowly, “They were kind of blue in color and varied in size. He had people mining them inside the confines of his fortress.”
“How large was the largest crystal he obtained that you saw? And how many would you estimate that his dragon was guarding?” Asmond asked, very interested in her observations.
“The largest crystal I saw was about this big,” Maija said while making a circle with her arms out in front of her chest, her hands clutching her elbows to show the king the estimated diameter. “He had an entire wall filled with them. It was, oh, I don’t know, about twice the length of this table and as wide this room?”
The king’s jaw dropped, his mouth agape. He didn’t say anything right away. The queen spoke first, “How do we know that what you are telling us is true? For all we know, she could be lying for her own personal gain.”
“I know what I saw,” Maija protested, raising her eyebrows at how aggressively she defended herself to the queen. She blushed with this realization.
Ivan raised his hands before Lageena had time to respond, “I believe that she’s telling us the truth. She doesn’t have any reason to mislead us.”
“If what she said is true,” the king interjected, “Then potentially Merglan has more power than he’s ever had before.”
“How is that possible? What do the crystals do?” Anders asked.
“There are crystals in this world known to have unparalleled powers,” Natalia said.
Anders glanced down at his hip, looking at the small sapphire crystals worked into the handle of his recently acquired sword.
“The riders of old wrote of the secrets to using these crystals, but their writings were lost ages before they came into power. Rumors of the Norfolk…”
“That’s enough,” Asmond said, cutting her off. “I’ll not have talk of those people in my presence.”
“If I may, your majesty?” Ivan said.
The king nodded.
“Merglan has obviously invested heavily into acquiring crystals of all kinds and for some unknown reason he has chosen now as the time to come out of hiding.”
“Is that how Thargon could use magic?” Anders blurted out. “I saw Thargon wearing a crystal necklace.”
“It’s possible,” Ivan said. Although the king glared at them disapprovingly, Ivan continued, “I’m not entirely sure how Thargon was alive. Merglan must have found a way to restore his body after…” he paused, glancing at Anders. “After Theodor slew him.”
“Not possible, it must have been another kurr,” Asmond said.
Anders opened his mouth to dispute him, but Ivan gave him a stern look clearly warning him to hold his tongue.
“Really?” Maija asked unaware. “Because I heard Merglan speaking with him and calling him by name.”
“An illusion,” Asmond said, waving a hand. “He probably brought another devilish kurr into his employ and named him after that wretch. Besides, Merglan was probably harvesting those crystals to help sell swords to the orc armies. You know how they worship those sapphires.”
“Regardless of his intentions,” Ivan said. “It still begs the question as to why he’s chosen now to come out of hiding.”
“No one can be expected to understand the mental decisions of a mad man,” Nadir said.
“Whatever the reason, it’s safe to assume Merglan will attempt to take control of the five kingdoms,” the queen said, bringing their conversation back to grounded ideas.
“Yes, I believe that’s still his goal,” Ivan said.
“Well then,” King Asmond said. “We must get to work with your training.” He looked to Anders. “You’ve got quite a lot of work to do if you’re going to beat Merglan alone.”
“I have to fight him alone?” Anders asked, looking to Ivan.
“Well, there aren’t any more dragonriders on our side,” Asmond said. “Merglan killed our youngest pair and Vieadore was taken from Natalia as well. You and Zahara are all we’ve got left.”
Anders felt sick. He had no idea that he was the only rider left fighting for justice. He thought perhaps that with all the dragons still in the world more pairs would be out there somewhere. He wasn’t ready to take on the most powerful sorcerer in the world. He didn’t even know how to use magic properly yet.
Ivan took the opportunity to end the meeting, “We’ll be using the training facilities outside the city if you need to reach us.”
As Ivan rose from his seat, Asmond said, “Ivan, I think you’ll appreciate the additions we’ve made to the training grounds.”
Ivan furrowed his brow as the king continued, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing major.” He waved him off before Ivan turned to leave the table. Ivan led them toward the exit when Lageena called, “Maija.” She turned to address the queen. “It’s good to have you back,” the queen said with a smile.
Maija curtsied slightly and followed the others, leaving the room and descending through the stairwell.
Once outside earshot of the king, Ivan turned to Anders, still pale and absent-minded, “Are you alright? You looked like you were about to have a breakdown.”
Anders shook his head, “I’m not ready for all this. I don’t want to fulfill the prophecy.”
“No one is ever ready to do things like this,” Ivan said. “Try not to think about the end goal, just think about what we need to do next. Begin training. That’s what we’ll focus on now.”
Anders nodded.
Ivan led as they exited the large tree and walked to the cliff’s edge where Anders had planned to meet Zahara. She stood waiting for them.
What are we going to do now? Zahara asked when she saw Anders.
We’re going to begin training because that’s what we need to do next. Just practice, not fighting yet, Anders said, still rattled by the immense task ahead of them.
Zahara eyed him strangely, then turned her attention to Ivan, who said, Training is what comes next, so that’s what we’re going to do. Head to the training facilities.
Where’s that? Zahara asked.
Ivan pointed beyond the cliff to the far reaches of the valley below. The training grounds are at the end of the valley. There will be lodging and food for us there.
Anders and Ivan climbed onto Zahara’s back and waved goodbye to Natalia and Maija, who’d followed before seeking out their parents’ home along the cliff’s edge. Zahara leapt off the edge of the tall cliff at the edge of Cedarbridge and let herself fall with her wings tucked for several seconds. Anders’ adrenaline began to pump through his veins as they plummeted toward the ground. The air rushed through his wavy hair, pulling it straight back. Letting her wings extend out and catch the air within their leathery expanse, Zahara pulled herself out of the dive and used the momentum to climb and glide over the forested valley below.
See the tower at the far end of the valley, Ivan said to them. That’s where we’re heading.
Anders let himself become lost in the joy of flying. If only for a short distance, it gave him the chance to shed his worries and feel the freedom of the sky. Zahara brought them down in a clearing next to the training facilities.
A three-story tower made of stone stood at the far end of a grassy opening. The castle-like building bore a resemblance to the depictions of towers surrounding the castle keeps in several books Theodor had in his personal library. A long single-story hall extended out from the bottom floor, attached to the rounded stone building. The length of the room stretched several times that of the tallest trees in Cedarbridge and was built with an extensive roof crafted entirely of timbers. Next to the tower was a massive circular depression, digging deep into the ground and absent of grass near the base. The sloped sides rising out from the bottom of the pit were covered with grass and boulders.
Surrounding the stone building was the large grassy clearing they landed in. The clearing and training facility sat nestled near the base of rolling hills that rose up from the valley bottom. Looking up from the clearing, Anders could see several stone spires reaching high over the trees. These rock formations rose up from the forested hilltops, jutting high above the trees in magnificent fan-like spires, of varying heights.
