Dragon Alliance: Rise Against Shadow (64 page)

“Bless you as well, my friend,” Gallanth answered the kind gesture. “In spite of you upsetting my rider,” the gold dragon continued, with a slight tone of sarcasm.

“My good dragon, you don’t give your rider enough credit for his resiliency,” the cleric chided Gallanth back.

“I have a slightly greater insight than even your wisdom can see, my good cleric,” Gallanth answered.

“Then I defer to your greater wisdom, mighty dragon,” Watterseth concluded with a wink.

“It’s time to go home, gentlemen; mount up,” Mkel interjected with a command to his Weir mates and Beckann, who had just ridden up on her unicorn. All smiled and began to climb up onto their mounts. Jodem and Toderan could tell that Mkel wanted to get into the air. Still, they all gladly secured themselves into their flying rigs, for they were all looking forward to going back to the Weir for a little rest. The battle, while short, had been intense, and they were also thankful that none of their friends had been wounded or worse. When they all gave Mkel the word that they were ready, he gave them the signal to take to the air. Beckann cast a flying spell over Desiran, to enable her to join the others in flight. She and Dekeen gave each other a nod and a wave, which was a great show of emotion for elves.

Mkel liked to watch the combination of the giant eagles, griffons, winged horse, and now unicorn take off in unison and soar in formation. As soon as they gained a little altitude, he told Gallanth to take off. The big dragon grabbed the reinforced, oversized sacks in his front and rear talons, and with a powerful heft of his colossal wings, and a push from his tail, he was airborne. The bags full of precious metals were heavy even for Gallanth’s strength, but he was still able to catch up to his friends once they rose to soaring altitude. They could all hear the cheers behind them of the Battle Point legionnaires and townspeople, as a final thanks for saving their town and their lives.

They all maneuvered in closer to Gallanth, and as soon as they were in formation within the gold dragon’s wingtips and tail, he and Mkel focused on the Weir, and in a second they were gone. They emerged over the plain immediately to the east of the Severic River and gently dove in unison toward the Weir entrance, which was open and awaiting them. Word had quickly gotten back to the Weir, and the garrison was out in force to meet the leaders for their return. Gallanth slowed his speed slightly to allow the others to go through the entrance tunnel first, for it would be harder for the dragon to land with all the weight he was carrying.

Mkel could hear the welcome of the Weir horns from the towers, a good sound to his ears after the events of the last several days. His friends flew into the Weir landing, with Gallanth right behind them. They all diverted toward their landings and stables, while Gallanth back winged and landed between the lake and the main housing complex of the Weir. The gold dragon dropped the large sacks of treasure and stepped away from them. Captain Hornbrag moved in immediately with an armed platoon and surrounded the sacks, for he was the one responsible for the tracking, storage, and managing of the Weir’s wealth.

Mkel waved to the soldiers of his garrison who had assembled and quickly dismounted. Gallanth lowered his head in a greeting to the Weir’s soldiers. Janta walked over with his little Michen, who smiled and toddled over to his father. Mkel knelt down and grabbed him as Gallanth lowered his massive head just beside his rider. He gave his son a big kiss on the cheek.

“Daddy,” the little boy said, adding, “Dragon,” as he turned his head to look at Gallanth’s imposing frame.

“Hey, my little boy. Daddy’s so happy to see you,” Mkel said to his son.

“As am I, little hatchling,” Gallanth added.

“Give Daddy a kiss,” Mkel told his son, who leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you; how about Gallanth?” he asked his son. The toddler leaned toward Gallanth, putting his hands on the side of the dragon’s nose and gave him a kiss. Gallanth’s golden eyes glowed in response to the loving gesture.

“I wouldn’t want to be the one who hurt or even threatened that little boy,” Pekram said to a garrison soldier he was walking with. “To incur the wrath and fury of a gold dragon is not something you’d like to have on your shoulder, and they won’t rest until a blood debt is paid. Captain Mkel, good to see you all back,” the senior company sergeant’s booming voice echoed over the general conversation.

“Pekram, good to see you!” Mkel exclaimed as he gave his company’s senior legionnaire a lion’s grip handshake and hug.

“Sir, it was only three days,” the big man replied.

“Yes, but it was a long and tough three days,” Mkel commented.

“I heard one hell of a fight. You should have called for Silvanth to bring the rest of the garrison, or at least the company,” Pekram commented.

“Events unfolded very quickly, plus General Daddonan is a stickler about requesting non-Battle Point aid, at least other than dragons,” Mkel explained.

“Pride is a bad thing for an officer, especially a legion commander,” Pekram commented.

“I know, but there is nothing as close to divine as a general in command,” Mkel said with a smile. “I have to go with Gallanth to let him void and have given the rest of the Weir council off until the Honors Day games and senate gathering in Draconia. Captain Hornbrag and the lieutenants will be here. I want the men to concentrate on weapons skills and squad training on fighting giants, for I think we will be doing so before too long. A mountain giant led a pod of common giants that almost put an end to our good Weir wizard. Let me transfer the events of the battles to your seeing crystal so you can review them and determine what other tasks you want the men to train on. You should also look at what Lupek and Deless saw in the Smoking Mountains, for that army is likely what we will face.” Pekram pulled his crystal from his belt and touched it to Kershan’s dragonstone.

“One last thing, tell the men the first round of ale is on me tonight, just because I’m glad to be back and see their ugly faces,” Mkel said again with a smile. “Oh, tell the lieutenants I will meet with them tonight, an hour before dinner.”

“I will let them know, now take that big lizard out to relieve himself,” Pekram said with his normal sarcasm.

“I heard that, Sergeant,” Gallanth chided the senior fighter. “Mkel, Michen wants to ride,” he told his rider. “Janta, do you have …,” Mkel started to ask the halfling.

“Michen’s seat is right here, sir,” the diminutive halfling said, moving the boy’s carriage over to him with its padded seat.

“Thanks, my dear,” Mkel said, taking the seat and putting Michen on Gallanth’s huge head. He would hold onto one of the gold dragon’s two head horns and play. Gallanth would make sure he would not fall by his limited telekinetic ability and careful manipulation of his tail. Mkel then waved to all assembled and to Jodem and Toderan; he then climbed up Gallanth’s arm and onto the flying rig. He fastened the padded cloth and wooden seat onto Markthrea’s mount and asked Gallanth to lift Michen up to him. Gallanth responded by shuffling the boy onto his tail and then lifted him up to Mkel. He grabbed his giggling son, and placed him into the seat, and secured him in.

Gallanth then moved over to the lake, took a quick drink, and launched into the air. He soared over the lake and out of the Weir to the sound of the warning horns, as well as Gallanth’s own roar. They sailed over the Severic River, and Gallanth banked to the left as he gained altitude. Michen was giggling and laughing, thoroughly enjoying the ride. Gallanth was flying at a very leisurely pace so as not to whip too much wind at the little boy, for Mkel didn’t want to use the shield that one of his dragonstones could emanate, for it was a comfortable evening and Michen liked the wind in his face.

“Enjoying yourself, little hatchling?” Gallanth asked Michen as he turned his head briefly around to look at the boy. Michen smiled and yelled, “Gallyanth, flying!” Mkel could almost make out a smile on the dragon’s huge jaws.

“I know you need to talk, my friend. I can feel your mind is busy and slightly troubled,” Gallanth spoke aloud to Mkel.

“I still have consternation about the happenings of the last several days,” Mkel explained. “Never before in battle have I had these feelings. I do not fear death for my own sake, but with Michen now, I am scared of leaving him like my father left me. As for the men I killed, including that death knight, I guess that bothers me slightly as well. That
pogasch
deserved to die for what he did, but I can’t help feeling a slight remorse. At the same time, I feel I failed by not protecting that boy’s father as well.”

“I understand your fear of leaving Michen,” Gallanth said in a comforting tone.
“
Our job is a dangerous one, in spite of all our advantages. I also noticed that you fought these last two days like a ghost was looking over your shoulder. Remember that you do not need to prove anything to anyone, even your father’s memory and especially to me, only to yourself. Up until now, you’ve only had to fight orcs and their allies; killing them is akin to squashing an insect. Remember evil exists in many places and can take many forms. The men we killed today, including the death knight, deserved what happened. This does not mean you can’t pray for their souls, however.

Gallanth’s words hit him hard and made him think. His wisdom and brotherly tone always comforted him, especially now. “I understand your words, my friend, and they do make sense. It is just I still see that boy’s face in my mind, and I can’t stop thinking about Michen and my own memories of my father,” Mkel replied.

“Again I understand your feelings. It is the true facet of humans that makes you unique in this world. It is also what gives you strength and the ability to love. In regards to your thoughts that we did not do enough, you must remember that as powerful as we are together, we cannot save every soldier or every innocent life. We do not have the power of the Creator and cannot be held to that same level of responsibility. All we can do is the best we can, maintain our honor, look out for our friends and those we are responsible for to the best of our ability, and above all love those who love us. Remember the oath you took when you became a dragonrider. One of the many themes of that oath is that the Creator makes us only strong for a certain period of time, to enable us to defend the weak.

“This is also the curse of the metallic dragons,”
Gallanth continued,
“in that the very soul bonding we do with our human riders, the very thing that makes us more powerful, is still a temporary endeavor. Dragons are immortal unless killed in battle. We almost always outlive our bonded rider. This means we will face the loss of our soul mate many times, and dragon emotions are extremely powerful, like the pulsating of an erupting volcano.” As Gallanth spoke, Mkel felt the surge of emotion from the dragon come over him like a tidal wave. Immediately tears welled in his eyes and started to run down his cheeks before the wind whipping around his mithril crystal visor dried them.

“The love you feel for Michen is the same as the love I feel for you and all my riders. But even this is infinitesimal compared to the love the Creator feels about all of his creations, and the loss of his earthly spirit at the hands of Tiamat and her drow, orc, and Morgathian minions, which he also created. He bore all the evil of mankind, elf, dwarf, halfling, and dragonkind, in an attempt to bring the world back into balance. All of the power that dragons bring to bear is nothing compared to what power of love that he and his spirit brought. This is true power. He keeps the world in balance through the deeds of those who are good, to counter the deeds of those who do evil or are evil. This constant give and take keeps the world in its present balance. Imagine trying to orchestrate all that, and still allow all those involved to have free will for the power to do good or evil,
Gallanth said.

“It is just amazing how he has the fortitude to allow such things to happen,” Mkel thought out loud to Gallanth.

“It all comes back to his gift of free will. Dragons chose by species, as did the elves. Humans have an individual choice and continue to do so. You, as all men, have two dragons fighting inside of you for the control of your soul, one good and one bad,” Gallanth told Mkel, much to his surprise. Mkel, slightly startled, asked, “Which one will win?”

“The one you feed,” he answered.

Mkel’s seeing crystal vibrated. He picked it up and said, “Yes, my dear?” answering the image of Annan in the mirror face.

“Where are you? You fly in from a huge battle in the east, land, then take off on that oversized gold lizard with Michen,” she yelled at him.

“Just wait, we have been through hell in the last several days and Gallanth needed to void,” Mkel answered her, slightly irritated.

“How do you think I feel back here dealing with all the Weir matters, worrying about you? And Michen has been very difficult as well, as if he knew you were in danger. Janta and I could hardly handle him at times. You should have let me and Silvanth know more of what was going on,” she continued.

“There wasn’t much free time, Annan. We were involved with two major battles and had to fight dozens of chromatics,” Mkel answered, getting more irritated.

“I know you weren’t fighting for three days straight, and I know there’s a dragon gypsy cult in Battle Point. I’m pretty sure you had many drinks offered to you along with other things, but most importantly, we were worried about you and should have joined you in the fight,” Annan continued her worried rant.