A Dark Tide (Book of One) (33 page)

Then, from the corner of his eye, Quenta saw several Darga dragging captured elves away through the trees and he turned and pursued them, intending to rescue the captives. The lizard men moved quickly through the trees and, from the branches, Quenta noticed a number of other Darga dragging captured elves through the forest. They ran out of the trees and Quenta saw something that completely horrified him. Standing before a small pile of dead elves was a large, winged Darga, holding a jeweled blade. One of the Darga dumped an unconscious elf at its feet and the winged one handed him the sword.

"Take its strength," the winged creature said and the Darga stuck the blade into the chest of the elf, dealing a mortal blow. The Darga grew in height as its arms and legs became thicker and more heavily muscled, and the creature turned and looked at the winged Darga with a killing look in its eye. The much larger winged Darga thrust a clawed fist forward and opened it, and the Darga grudgingly handed over the blade, then moved out of the way making way for the line of his brethren that had also managed to capture elves.

With livid rage at what he had just witnessed, Quenta leapt from the trees and attacked the Darga, killing one after another, dispatching them with a wildness that became more intense with each stroke of the jeweled blade. The Darga turned on him, dropping their elven captives, some of whom were regaining consciousness, which only spurred Quenta to fight harder, in the hope of saving his warriors. The large, winged Darga turned and faced him, along with four remaining Darga, who snarled angrily at having been interrupted from getting their reward.

Quenta squared off against the Darga, cutting two of them down before the larger one met his blade and counterattacked with shattering blows as powerful as his own. The two other Darga slashed at Quenta and one of them cut his shoulder as he blocked the other, and he narrowly dodged another attack from the winged Darga as he struck one of the lesser creatures in its reptilian face with the pommel of his sword. The Darga went down, the bones in its skull crushed, and Quenta deflected another attack from the large, winged creature. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other Darga moving in to attack him, but steel rang upon steel and Quenta saw that one of the elves that had been captured, had blocked the creature using a blade she had found on one of the dead lizard men.

Quenta faced the large, winged Darga, swinging his blade in several short, powerful cuts, which the creature blocked and deflected easily, then responded with several attacks of its own. With one clawed fist, its blows were as strong as his own, and Quenta was careful of the creature's other scaled hand and the sharp claws that slashed at him. He parried another strike, then he drove inside the creature's reach, trying to knock it off balance, but he underestimated the Darga's center of balance and barely managed to duck when it swiped at his neck with its claws. Quenta instinctively blocked with his forearm and he felt the Darga's claws cut through his tattered leather sleeve and scrape against bone. He ducked out of the way and glanced at his arm, expecting to see blood and torn flesh, but the outer part of his arm had changed, its surface resembling the horns of a forest creature.

The winged Darga attacked him again, leaving Quenta no time to think about such things and he met the creature's crushing attacks, blocking and dodging to the side. He dropped low and thrust his blade hard into the Darga's midsection, then he threw himself back and out of the way of a swipe of its blade. Quenta rolled to his feet as the creature bellowed at him and lunged toward him, and he sidestepped the blade and smashed the point of his sword into the Darga's chest. Bone crunched and the creature tried to slash at him failingly, as its life energy flowed into the blade. Quenta shook from the intense rush of power that flooded into him through the sword, and when it finally stopped he stepped back from the Darga and yanked the blade free. He turned around and several of the elves that had been captives were up on their feet and helping the others. The elf, who had intervened with the other Darga, wiped the black blood from her blade on the creature's carcass and she lifted her mask from her face and stared at Quenta.

"Lord Quenta," she said, with a concerned look. "Are you all right?"

"I am fine," he said. "Let us return to the fight."

Quenta picked up the jeweled sword the winged Darga had dropped and he tossed it to the elf.

"Use this sword with great care," he said as she caught it by the hilt. "It can give you the strength of your enemy, but do not let its power rule you."

Quenta nodded and strode back toward the trees, not bothering to acknowledge the changes he could feel in his body and ignoring the stares of the elves, all of them wide eyed at the bone that covered his arms and legs, and the horns that protruded from his temples. A wingless Darga ran from the trees, charging toward him, and Quenta dashed toward him and cleaved the creature in two with one powerful swipe of his sword, then he leapt up into the trees and set off in search of the Darga leader.

*****

Draxis stepped from the stand of trees to the open space on the other side, a wide gap before the red forest where he knew the rest of the elves were hiding, and he saw dark scorch marks upon the ground along with the remains of numerous Darga that had died tried to cross. He looked up and saw the black and white dragons circling overhead and he understood the strategy, but he would not be deterred. Draxis stepped back into the new forest, then he wrapped his arms around the trunk of a tree and began to lean back, pulling at it with all his might. It was as he thought, the tree did not yet have deep roots, and though it heaved and groaned, the earth beneath his feet began to loosen as he yanked the tree from the ground. Branches snapped and whipped about as he dragged it out into the clearing, holding its branches up before him.

The black dragon screeched and came flying down toward him, and it released a blast of flame, but Draxis used the tree as a shield and the stream of white hot acid flame split around its branches and trunk, missing him almost completely. The tree was charred half way through, but it surprisingly did not catch fire, though Draxis knew that it would not protect him from another blast from the dragon, and he dashed the rest of the way across the gap as the white dragon descended from above, blasting him with fire that was hot but not enough to burn. Draxis made it into the trees on the far side and was immediately met with numerous arrows, but they bounced harmlessly off his thick reptilian hide, and he continued into the red forest, killing every elf that dared to cross his path.

As they circled above the clearing, catching their breath after using the last of their flames, Borrican and Storm both saw that the massive creature had made it through the gap. Borrican recognized the axe the creature carried and he wanted to pursue, but hundreds of Darga began to emerge from the stand of trees and they began crossing the gap, and he knew that the elves that were left in the red forest would not be able to defend against such a number.

"What do you suggest, Akandar?" Storm asked, sensing Borrican's hesitation.

"We have to stop them," Borrican growled between labored breaths.

"My flames are losing their heat," Storm told him.

"As are mine," Borrican said. "I do not feel any weaker, but I cannot call my fire as easily, and we must stop the Darga from entering the forest."

"Then we must keep them busy until we have recovered," Storm said, and he dove toward the mass of lizard men below, landing upon the ground and whipping his tail at them, sending a number of them tumbling. Borrican dodged an attack by one of the winged Darga that flew at him, then he knocked the creature out of the air with a swipe of his claws. He saw several of them flying after Storm, and a few more were closing in on him, and Borrican knew that Storm was right. The only way they could stop them now, was to engage them on the ground, so he dove toward the sea of Darga and crashed into them, crushing as many of them as he could as he skidded across the ground.

Lexi thanked the elven healers for using their gifts to heal her wounded shoulder. With their magic and the power within her, the deep puncture had closed up completely and though it was still a little tender, she was able to move properly again. The small wooden palace in the center of the red forest had become a focal point of activity, with teams of healers working constantly as elves returned from fighting to get patched up and head back out again through the trees. The elven queen, Laurana coordinated things, making things moved as efficiently as possible, balancing the need to get elves back into the fight with making sure those whose wounds were dangerous, received attention in time.

Lexi walked out of the structure, frowning at her stupidity in her fight with Draxis, for she had expected him to be the same as she remembered him and had completely misjudged his power. She foolishly allowed him to get the better of her and her injury had not only taken her away from the battle, but she had needed help from the healers, who were already overburdened, dealing with so many wounded elves and humans, who were fighting against the Darga that had managed to enter the forest.

"It is hard not to get discouraged," Ariana said, noticing the frown on the mysterious blue girl's face.

Lexi turned and stared at the red haired girl with the jeweled skin and the pregnant belly, and she sniffed the air, catching her scent. It was strangely familiar in a few different ways, and she wondered who she was.

"You smell like the black dragon, but you also smell like someone else," she said.

"You mean Prince Borrican," Ariana said, and she smiled. "Who else do I smell like?"

"A friend who fights the darkness," Lexi said. "His name is Aaron."

"You know him?"

"Yes," Lexi said. "He saved me and I tried to save him but he made me go away."

Ariana found Lexi's way of speaking odd, as though she was very young, like a child, but with a melancholy of someone very old, and she wondered about the paths she must have walked in her life. She had heard about the dragon girl from Ehlena, who said she was an ally, but divulged little else in terms of who she was except that she apparently knew nothing of dragonkind. Ariana found it interesting that she did know Aaron, and it sounded as though she had seen him recently.

"Aaron is my half brother," Ariana told her. "Perhaps that is why we have a similar scent. I am sorry, I do not believe we have been formally introduced. I am Ariana of Maramyr, and you are called Lexi, if I am not mistaken."

Lexi looked at the girl, her eyes widening, for she had heard of Ariana, and she knew she was the Princess of Maramyr, and the rightful ruler of the kingdom her mother now controlled, and she would be queen if her crown had not been stolen. Lexi realized that if Aaron was her brother then it might make him some kind of prince.

"Aaron is your brother?"

"Yes," Ariana said. "Our mother was Princess Aria, Queen Laurana's sister. You wouldn't know it to look at him, but Aaron is part elf, just like me. You said you tried to save him?"

"I tried," Lexi said. "I wanted to fight Calexis, but Aaron made me go away. Ehlena told me it was on purpose, and she says Aaron knows what he is doing, but I am worried because he doesn't know Calexis and how mean she is."

"And you know her as well?" Ariana was curious.

"Yes, I know her, and Draxis too," Lexi said. "I am going to kill them both."

"The way you speak of them, it sounds very personal," Ariana said.

"It is personal," Lexi replied with a scowl. "You have family and so do I."

Ariana looked at the girl a little more closely and she realized that Lexi was not so much a dragon in human form, but that her features were far more reptilian, and there was a dark beauty to her that was subtle and perhaps hidden by her blue skin and the way she hung her head, but she recognized the resemblance.

"Calexis is your mother," Ariana said, and Lexi looked down at the ground.

"You hate me now," she said, her voice almost a whisper.

Ariana stared at Lexi and she could feel the conflicting emotions within her coming through to the surface. She stepped toward her slowly, then gently put her arms around the girl. Ariana could immediately feel the tension in Lexi and the fierce power that raged beneath the frozen stillness at her surface. It was almost unnerving, the silent intensity of her being, but Ariana held her and she felt her tension let go just a little and Lexi rested her head on her shoulder.

"It's all right, Lexi," Ariana said. "You are your own person, and if Aaron is your friend, then I would think you must be a good person."

"I don't know," Lexi said, her voice a raw whisper, and Ariana realized that she was crying. "I don't know if I am good. I am like a beast and I kill."

"You are a dragon," Ariana said. "Dragons are violent creatures, but they can also be gentle, and their emotions run very deep."

"I don't know much about dragons," Lexi said, wiping her tears and pulling away. "I am sorry."

"Perhaps one day you can travel to the dragon lands," Ariana said. "If you have a chance, you might ask Storm about dragonkind, if you don't mind his sense of humor."

"He makes jokes?" Lexi looked confused.

"Yes," Ariana said, laughing a little. "Except he says them in a serious way."

"The two dragons, they are very angry," Lexi said. "They do not seem like they would make jokes."

"Dragon rage is different from normal anger," Ariana explained, then she thought about it for a moment. "I suppose normal isn't really normal anymore, but don't be afraid of your emotions, Lexi, for it is where dragons get their power. Dragon rage is what brings dragon fire."

"But I don't want to be a beast," Lexi said.

"You won't," Ariana assured her. "That only happens to the male dragons."

"Is that true?"

"Do you not have any memories of your line?"

"My line?" Lexi seemed confused and Ariana realized that she had no idea what she was talking about.

"You really should talk to Storm," she said, then she flinched as her stomach tightened painfully. "I wish Vale or her mother were here."

Ariana felt another spasm of pain run through her body and she nearly fell forward but Lexi caught her and helped steady her on her feet.

"Are you hurt?" Lexi asked.

"I don't really know," Ariana said, and this time she was the one with tears in her eyes. "It does hurt, quite a lot." The pain shot through her again, and Ariana felt her flames begin to burn. "Lexi, please move away, I can't control my fire."

"Fire will not hurt me," Lexi told her as flames began to dance around Ariana, and she continued to hold her up. "What do you need?"

"Inside," Ariana gasped as she tried to suppress her fire. "The healers are prepared."

Lexi helped her walk toward the structure and one of the healers happened to emerge from the archway.

"Help her," Lexi said as the healer rushed over toward them.

"Rene, it's time," Ariana told her.

"Quickly," she said, then she moved back as Ariana's flames erupted around her again. Rene looked at Lexi, noticing that she was unaffected by the fire. "There is a room inside for her. Princess, do you think you can make it there?"

"I don't think so," Ariana stammered as she doubled over in agony.

"Where is the room?" Lexi asked.

"Inside, past the main room, on the left side there is a passageway made of stone that leads to some steps below the ground."

"Clear a path," Lexi told her, and Rene nodded and ran back inside.

Ariana felt her body tighten and her legs buckled beneath her, but she felt Lexi holding her, keeping her from falling, and through the pain she could tell how strong she was.

"I will carry you," Lexi said. "It will be very fast, so do not be afraid."

"I can try to walk," Ariana said, feeling the pain subside for a moment, but then it returned again and she cried out, and her flames burned even higher.

Lexi saw Rene appear in the archway and she shifted her grip on Ariana and slid an arm behind her legs, then as gradually as she could, she moved with the speed of her power, doing her best not to let it touch Ariana. The healers inside the wooden palace at the base of the great tree had cleared the way expecting the princess to pass through, but all they saw a blur of flame and lightning streak by and disappear into the passage at the far side of the room. At the bottom of the steps, Lexi stopped found a kind of room with walls of wood and stone, with bright beams of light that filtered in through open slits in the high parts of a lofted ceiling and glistened on fountains of water that ran from the walls into pools upon the floor.

At the center of the room, was a kind of platform, like a bed, but made of polished white stone and wood, which curved in the center almost like a raised bath. Lexi saw two women, one of the healers and another she recognized as the elven queen, Laurana, and she carried Ariana to them, then laid her down on the smooth stone bed. Laurana pressed upon a stone and a river of water began to flow around Ariana, quenching her flames and filling the room with steam, which rose through the vents in the high ceiling. Ariana moaned, her eyes rolling back in her head, then she looked up at them, with an expression of fear.

"It hurts so much," she gasped, then she cried out, writhing backwards on the stone as another spasm of pain tore through her body. Lexi noticed the water that ran down the white stone slab turned red with blood and she turned to Laurana and the healer.

"Will she be all right?"

"We can only hope," Laurana said, her eyes fixed on Ariana as the healer covered her hands and arms in some kind of viscous fluid, then reached through the flames and touched her belly. "Thank you for bringing her."

"What can I do?" Lexi asked, then shouts and screams suddenly filtered in from outside the room, and Lexi could see the conflict on Laurana's face, and she sensed that she wanted to know what was happening and was worried for her people. Lexi now knew what she could do, and she nodded to the queen and lowered the elven mask over her face. "You help her and I will fight. That is what I will do."

In a blur of energy, she disappeared from the room and reappeared a moment later at the entrance to the small wooden palace. Outside, she saw several elves running toward a massive creature that tore through the trees, its giant axe smashing the branches and people in its way, and its reptilian jaws dripping black acid and fire. The creature looked almost like a dragon and Lexi saw the deadly gleam in its eyes and she knew exactly who it was.

"Draxis!" she yelled as she ran forward and transformed, remembering Ariana's words and letting her anger well up inside of her.

Draxis pulled back his axe, getting ready to swing at the blue dragon that leapt toward him, but she moved far faster than he remembered and, before he knew it, claws had sunk into his shoulders and he was lifted from the ground and thrown through the trees, away from the place where the elves were gathered. He crashed through branches and landed on his back, but managed to twist around and jump out of the way as the blue dragon unleashed a blast of energy at him. Draxis readied his axe, waiting for Lexi to attack, but she had disappeared.

He growled, looking from side to side through the empty trees, listening for the sound of wings or branches, but the forest was eerily quiet, then he felt a strange heat on arm, and black blood poured forth from a deep cut. Another line of searing pain ran along his leg, and he bled again, feeling suddenly weaker. Draxis saw a flash and a streak of light moving, and he moved his axe, catching Lexi's sword before it reached his neck. He flung her away from him, then he swiped at her with his axe, but she was too fast and she dodged out of the way. Lexi leapt from a branch, attacking him again in a blur, but Draxis was ready and he smashed her with his powerful, clawed fist. She hit a tree and fell to the ground, and Draxis laughed as she slowly pushed herself back to her feet.

"You continue to surprise me, little sister," he growled, laughing through his fanged teeth and dripping flaming pitch upon the forest floor. "But I am greater still, as I have always been. I will always be more powerful than you."

Lexi stared at her brother, and she knew that no matter what he looked like, no matter how powerful he was, he was a monster and he had always been a monster. It was not his strength, or even the shape he took, but his vicious cruelty that made him so, and she now knew that she could never become like him, no matter what she looked like.

"I will kill you and take your power," he said. "Then I will destroy the rest of these pathetic forest creatures."

"No, you won't," Lexi growled, thinking of all the cruel things Draxis had done, and she felt something growing within her, like the spikes of anger that she had felt before, when the power had come from her throat, but this was different. It was something deep within her, that grew into a powerful flame, fueled by her anger, and Lexi finally knew the truth of her rage. She took a step toward him, and shifted to her dragon form once again, then she let out a powerful roar, sending a blast of fire and energy toward him.

Draxis held up the flat of his axe blocking the powerful flames and energy that engulfed him, and he felt the scaled flesh on his clawed hands begin to itch and burn. The axe grew hot in his grip and felt something strange, a feeling he did not like, and he leapt into the air, scrambling up through the branches and away from the fire. Draxis glanced beneath him and saw Lexi chasing after him, her dragon form coursing with energy and her eyes glaring at him with white hot anger.