Legends of the Dragonrealm, Vol. III

brothers.

Kyl gaped and Grath smiled as the face also became something different. The stern, bearded visage pulled in and the head reshaped itself, at last forming a partial shell. The shell defined itself into a helm within which the last vestiges of Benjin Traske reformed into the flat, incomplete features of a drake warrior. Yet, unlike most drake warriors, the helm of this one had as elaborate a dragon head crest as any of the drake lords themselves.

Crossing the little distance that still remained between the two of them, the immense drake warrior stopped, then knelt before the dragon heir. Within the false helm, the lipless mouth curved into a toothy smile.

“Your Majesssty,” announced Grath as he shut the door and bolted it again. “It pleases me to presssent your mossst humble and loyal ssservant, Duke Toma of Kivan Grath.”

XVIII

Cabe wound his way through the vast underground cavern of the Green Dragon, his escorts trying their best to keep pace with the hurrying warlock. Having known the Dragon King for as long as he had, Cabe could have transported himself directly to the main hall of the subterranean labyrinth without asking permission, but he had needed the time to think. Think and plan.

“This way,” he muttered, turning down yet another corridor. The guards and guide stumbled after him. None of them thought to order him to slow down, for everyone who followed the master of the Dagora Forest knew of the warlock and how powerful he was said to be. He was also known to be a friend and ally of their lord. If there had been some question as to his motives, then they would have tried their best to either capture or kill him, but it would not have been something any of the guards would have looked forward to with eagerness. They were quite aware of their chances against the robed figure stalking ahead of them.

Only at the end of the corridor did Cabe at last pause. Here at last was the great central chamber that the Green Dragon utilized as his throne room and hall. Here the Dragon King met his guests.

Unlike the caverns of most of his counterparts, that of the Green Dragon was covered with lush plant life, most of it of the kind that should not have been able to thrive so far from the sun. Yet, thanks to the power and skill of the drake lord, vines, shrubs, and flowering plants made the chamber resemble more a forest than a cave. Over the past few years, the Dragon King had redesigned this hall, adding further to his vast collection of foliage.

In the midst of the underground grove and seated upon his throne was the armored form of the Dragon King himself. He was flanked on each side by the fiercest pair of guards that Cabe could recall ever having faced. As was typical of Lord Green, one of the guards was a drake, but the other was a human. It was debatable which was the more terrible of the two. The Green Dragon prided himself in carrying on the ways of his predecessors; here, humans and drakes were almost as equal as at the Manor. What made things different in Cabe’s home, however, was that it was a human who ruled there, not a Dragon King. The experiment at the Manor represented the first time that drakes had ever coexisted peacefully with humans in a place where they did not dominate. The idea had been the Green Dragon’s.

There was so much about his host that the warlock had always admired.

“Thank you for coming, Friend Cabe.” The reptilian knight indicated a chair that had been set near his throne. The chair was set on a level with the Dragon King’s own, which was supposed to indicate the drake’s long-standing belief in the equality of the two races, but the mage had always noticed that both Lord Green and his throne stood taller. He had often wondered whether that was intentional, or whether the Dragon King had simply never noticed it.

“Thank you, but I prefer to stand.” Behind him, his escorts vanished down one of the other tunnels.

The Green Dragon straightened a bit. “As you desire. You know the contents of the missive, then?”

“Gwendolyn informed me, yes. It’s not surprising when you think about it. Not even the fact that Lord Blue is coming here. Of all the Dragon Kings, other than yourself, of course, he is the only one I would trust enough to allow entry, temporary entry in his case, into the Manor.”

“Yesss, I trust him, too. The others are upssset, Friend Cabe, although none of them would be able to give you the same reasons.”

Cabe frowned. “Imagine what they would have been like if the assassins had succeeded in murdering Kyl. Thank goodness for Grath, if that should happen.”

It appeared to take Lord Green time to translate what he was saying. “Yesss, we may be thankful that if some tragedy did seize the life of the heir, may the Dragon of the Depths prevent such, there would be Grath to step in and take hisss place.”

“We’ve often commented to one another that he would make just as good, possibly better, an emperor as Kyl.”

The Dragon King shifted position. “That we have, which is not to say that Kyl isss not already coming into his own. He will do sssplendidly, I am sure.”

Cabe walked around the chair set aside for him. He stared the drake lord in the eye. The warlock heard the guards suddenly straighten but paid them little mind.

“You are the one who sent the assassins to murder Kyl. You, my Lord Green, tried to have your new emperor killed. We both know that, don’t we?”

The guards readied their weapons and started for the warlock, but the armored tyrant raised a mailed hand. Both warriors paused, but the glares they gave Cabe Bedlam were dark and murderous.

“Friend Cabe, are you aware of the wordsss you jussst spoke? We have known each other since you firssst were forced to acknowledge your heritage. I consider you and yours not only close allies but close companionsss as well.”

“Which doesn’t change the fact that you tried to murder Kyl and ended up murdering Toos.”

There was an edge to the Green Dragon’s voice. “How could you sssay something like that?”

“You captured Darkhorse,” the bitter sorcerer went on, ignoring both the questions of his host and the seething faces of the guards. “As good as tortured him by using that box. I think that you had confidence enough to handle everyone but Darkhorse . . . and you found a way to make use of his power, too. You forgot one thing, though. I know you as well as anyone does. We’ve discussed the history of the Vraad over and over. I’ve seen your collection, and I know from my own researches some of the tricks and toys that my unesteemed ancestors devised, especially when they realized that most of them were losing their vast powers.” Cabe folded his arms. “There was also the band of assassins that I was supposed to think was part of an Aramite plot. Drakes and humans working together on this? Did you want to be discovered, my lord? Was that why you made it so obvious to me?”

He knew that he had really said little that could directly be tied to the Dragon King, that would have been considered proof by anyone, but to the warlock’s sad surprise, the Green Dragon slumped back in his throne. He glanced back at the guards and commanded, “Leave usss, pleassse.”

With obvious reluctance, the two obeyed.

When they were alone, the lord of Dagora finally spoke. “I do not know whether I desssired to be found out, Cabe Bedlam, or sssimply wasss so full of anxiety and horror at what I was doing that I did not take more care. Yesss, I am the one responsible for nearly assassinating Kyl and inssstead killing the brave and honorable regent of Penacles.”

Try as he might, Cabe could no longer stay angry. Instead, disappointment was all he felt. Great disappointment. It was as if the world he had known had proven to be a falsehood. In some ways, it was even more terrible than when he had been torn from his uninteresting existence as a server at an inn and thrust into a world of sorcery and intrigue. He had learned so much from the Dragon King, shared so much with him. There were few beings that the warlock felt comfortable with; in the small circle of true friends he had thought he had, the Dragon King had been one.