Lord Of Dragons (Book 2) (29 page)

"One of you must go and help secure the Malathian relic." Master Shalinor's eyes examined both Tael and Sebine, but his face gave no indication of a preference. "I know it is a difficult choice—the hardest choice to separate—but it will only be for a time. Once King Braxion and his army leaves Shaar'el, and the portal is secure, then you can rejoin us."

Tael gazed into Princess Sebine's eyes, realizing that they were both making the most difficult choice of their lives. As much as he wanted to help Princess Marei and her people, he knew he could never leave Sebine. He loved her too much to let her go.

"I will help them," said Princess Sebine, and Tael felt his heart drop down to the floor in surprise.
 

Chapter Thirty-Two

IN THE DARKNESS of night, Master Vhelan could barely make out the small shape of King Braxion striding across the temple square with his soldiers, preparing to mount his dragon, the great Keraxes. The sorcerer knew he had to act quickly before the King took to the skies. He swooped down and drew in the attention of the Vizathian Knights protecting the King.

"You've come too soon to Shaar'el, Your Majesty." Master Vhelan hovered over the group, feeling secure from bowshot with the magical shield he always kept protecting himself. "Are you perchance looking for this?" He held out the Mirror of Halien'shur and summoned a light to illuminate the relic.

"Traitor," shouted the King, and clucked his tongue in disapproval. "First you attempt a lame rebellion against me in Trikar and turn my daughter away from me, and then you help the pathetic dwarves muster a futile defense against my army. Then if all that wasn't bad enough, you steal the elven relic and flee to Shaar'el. But you failed to bother having the portal closed behind you! Ah, I should give you credit, you did command the temple priest to have it closed, but little did you know one of your own Hakkadian younglings went invisible and sneaked in along with you and slew the high priest."

Master Vhelan cursed himself for not paying attention to his intuition. He had sensed some familiar presence at the portal, but dismissed the feeling as a product of passing through the portal, which often produced ill effects on the mind and body when traveling over great distances.

"I've come to parlay, Sir. I know you only desire the relics and we possess both. I will have you and your army cease your assault on the city, or you will never find the relics again. Not even after searching the vast desert for ten thousand years. Make it easy on yourself and withdraw your army to where we can ensure the safety of the Malathians."

"Bah!" The King released a long, easy laugh that echoed across the courtyard. "You really have some nerve negotiating with me. After I'm through with this city you'll be begging to give me the relics. You heard what I did to the high priest? Next I'll do that to the children and their mothers. Hand over the relic now and be done with this ridiculous city. What do you care about their fate? Wasn't my gold enough for you? What do you really want, sorcerer?"

"I want you dead for what you did to my people." Master Vhelan gave the King a hard look. "Your gold has proven useful to our cause, in fact you'll find the nobility across the Kingdom of Valance have turned against you. Quite amazing what loyalty money can buy along with a load of spite against King Braxion the Bovine. While you were marching your foul army around the world, your army and government at home have turned against you. And with your foolish proclamation of freedom for Cranth, you've further tightened the noose around your neck."

The King paused in thought for a moment, then shook his head dismissively. "What do I care what those pathetic mortals do? Let the children play at home while I am out. They'll bear the brunt of my whip when I return."

"The question is, do you want to whip them soon, or play hide-and-seek with me and my allies in the desert? One relic flies west, the other relic flies east, or do they fly north and south? You have the biggest and the best dragon, but still it is only one dragon and I have over twenty. Perhaps you are regretting torching the dragon breeding grounds? I did warn you that was a bad idea... I am the Lord of Dragons, after all."

"You'll be a dead lord if you don't hand over the relics."

"That's the thing, I only have one relic. The Malathians refuse to trust me with their relic. Only to your daughter, Princess Sebine, or perhaps the young man she loves, Tael Shalinor. You do remember murdering his parents? And his wizard grandfather is here with us as well. All this hatred of the pig king assembled together. What is more important, butchering a bunch of innocent people or retrieving the relics that Princes Xanthes so greatly desires?"

At the mention of the Prince's name, Master Vhelan swore the King flinched. Perhaps he'd prodded the right place? The King turned and faced his men, ordering the Vizathian Knights to withdraw the soldiers back to the temple, and turned back to the sorcerer.

"Give the feeble mortals some time to pretend they'll survive the wrath of Princes Xanthes." The King climbed up his dragon mount and took the reigns of the great Keraxes. "I have better things to do with my time." Tens of young Hakkadian sorcerers appeared in the sky alongside King Braxion as Keraxes took to the air, flapping its great wings as the beast rose towards the highest level of the city. Master Vhelan chased after them, hoping his negotiation had proven successful.

As he rose to the level of where the royal family stood watching their arrival, Master Vhelan felt relieved to see Master Shalinor and young Tael and the other Hakkadians allies had escaped with their dragons. He met the questioning eyes of Princess Sebine and floated over to where she stood on the side of the group. When King Braxion was distracted by the frightened sight of the royal family, he leaned in to hear Sebine's voice.

"Listen carefully, I have a plan. But you have to follow everything precisely as I say..."

Chapter Thirty-Three

TAEL HAD TRIED to dissuade Sebine from staying and helping Princess Marei and the Malathians, but she refused to listen. And as Tael flew atop his dragon, the mighty Kraithen, far to the west of Shaar'el, all he could think about was Sebine's words.
 

"We swore to help kill King Braxion and defeat him, no matter what,"
Sebine had said. "
That's our goal that we made a blood vow accomplish. And now the King is here and I have an idea, something I can do to help us. I don't want to leave but we have no other choice. Wait for me up north. I promise I'll see you soon."

What did she mean when she said there was something she could do? Tael had been thinking over her words in his head, trying to puzzle out her true meaning. Did Sebine hope to assault the King? Or did she have a plan to try and return to the King's favor, and eventually steal or destroy the final relic that protected him? Whatever she planned was extremely risky, and Tael cursed himself for allowing her to stay in Shaar'el. He had tried to convince her to let him remain instead, but Sebine had kept repeating that he needed him to stay safe, and that their only hope lay in the north.

And now as Tael gazed over the sea of stars spilling down from the heavens, he asked the gods for a sign as to how he should proceed. Should he leave her back in Shaar'el with Master Vhelan and hope that everything would be ok? Or should he chase back to the city, disobeying his grandfather's command, and try and help her? His heart told him he should go to her, but his mind warned of danger.

In answer to his prayer, twin meteors shot across the sky in a massive explosion of light, igniting a red and yellow blaze that thundered and crackled across the air. As Tael studied the shooting stars he realized they aimed back towards Shaar'el. That was it. The gods had spoken. He had no other choice but to turn aside and aid Sebine. Now more than ever he believed she needed his help, or something terrible might happen to her.

He waited and watched his grandfather riding ahead of him, and slowly commanded Kraithen to swoop down and he allowed the two other dragons behind to pass. He paused for a while, nodding at the other sorcerers as if all were normal, and soon with their eyes focused on the northern horizon, Tael turned his dragon and plummeted down into the night.

With no shouts of pursuit behind him, Tael banked Kraithen and aimed for the southern horizon. He gave Kraithen a silent plea to return to the Malathian capitol, and the dragon responded, turning slightly to the left as if knowing precisely which way to go. He felt his heart race and as he sped back to Shaar'el, he hoped and prayed to Gaa'el that Sebine would be unhurt. If she tried to do something reckless against the King, he knew the kind of brutality that Braxion would bring.

After going through in his mind all the possible actions Tael would take when he reached Sebine, all he was left with was to clench Balensaar in his hand and dream of the nights they spent together out in the desert. The silky feeling of her skin as he traced his fingers over her body. Would he never again experience the tenderness of having her close to him? What if Braxion kidnapped her and imprisoned her back in the dungeons of Trikar? He realized now more than ever just how much he loved her and would do anything to keep her safe. Even if it cost him his own life.

The distant lights of the expansive city flared to life over the horizon, and Tael felt his pulse pound with anticipation. A terrible feeling of dread washed over him in an instant and he knew that for some reason that he had to hurry. He commanded Kraithen to fly faster, back to the top level of the city where he had left Sebine with the royal family. Why hadn't he responded to the look of terror and fear in the eyes of Princess Sebine? Even Prince Jaraz and his sister seemed horrified at the prospect of facing the King and his army.

But Master Shalinor had been so insistent and pushed for them to quickly leave and escape before the King or his soldiers had spotted their departure. They had flown west for a vast distance to ensure their direction north was not spotted. And no other dragon had followed. Now with the shape of the Malathian capitol growing larger and larger each moment, Tael gripped his sword even tighter, and pulled in the shadows over his body, until he disappeared.

His mouth went dry and bile came up his throat as he spied brilliant explosions of light and fire at the top of the city. He forced his stomach down and prodded Kraithen faster and faster until the beast dove down towards the battle. Around twenty flying sorcerers were arrayed around King Braxion and Keraxes, and they faced a sea of wizards fighting alongside Master Vhelan and Princess Sebine. The air was filled with massive booming explosions that echoed across the city. Both sides traded spirals of flame and ice as blinding blasts of light caused Tael to cover his eyes at the fierce display of magic.

But despite the balance of power between the two sides, Tael knew his allies were doomed. For as he went to land behind the wall of wizards, he could see a tidal wave of draenyx warriors scampering and flying up to join the fight.

Chapter Thirty-Four

WHEN SEBINE HAD been so foolish as to decide to stay and volunteer to help aid the Malathians, she had only done so after a kernel of an idea blossomed in her mind. She had sworn a blood oath to Tael that together they would kill King Braxion, no matter what the cost. Even at the cost of her own life. And with the King so close, she knew she couldn't pass on the chance.