“How did you possibly find her?” Asmond asked.
“She more or less found me,” Natalia said.
“It’s a long story, and we can fill you in later,” Ivan said trying to gain control of the conversation. “Maija’s been made aware of our situation and can be trusted. She’s one of us.”
Asmond hesitated, eyeing Maija for a breath before responding, “Very well. Like I was saying, this is a delicate matter. One you all have been directly affected by, so I’ve decided to include you in confiding this information. As it’s been determined by those I trust, Nadir and my wife, the mole who betrayed us in our attack on Merglan’s fortress is likely a member of the High Council, so no one else is privy to this meeting.”
So that’s what this is all about, Anders thought to himself.
“You trust that everyone in present company isn’t involved?” Ivan asked.
“I know it is not me,” the king began, placing his pale hand on his chest. “As for the rest of you, I have my own suspicions. But it is more likely that it is someone in the High Council.”
“And if you’re wrong?” Ivan asked bluntly.
The king cocked his head slightly and visibly exhaled before addressing Ivan. “If I’m wrong, and it is one of us here today that’s been leaking sensitive information to our most formidable foe this world has ever seen,” Asmond paused, drawing in a deep breath before continuing, “then the details of this meeting will be made known to him, and I’ll have narrowed my search down to the six of you.” He widened his eyes as he spoke.
“Good enough for me,” Ivan said raising his hands in an open gesture. “Let’s get down to business. After Merglan knew we were attacking, he sent his entire orc and kurr army out to meet us. Merglan and his dragon rode off to attack the elf army, which he did. I wasn’t there, but from what I could gather, he changed his focus to Natalia and Keanu, who led him away from the elves, giving both the army and Zahara a chance to escape and help us win the battle. Once the battle was won, Anders, Zahara and I helped free the prisoners Merglan was using for slave labor. Maija here,” Ivan pointed to Maija, “was one of those forced into labor. She was a chambermaid for his head officers and army commanders. It’s my understanding that she found a secret room with crystals that were being guarded by his dragon, Killdoor.”
“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.
