Legends of the Dragonrealm, Vol. III

VII

Three peaks stood shrouded in the stormy sky. Aurim did not have to ask if he and Shade closed in on their destination, for he easily sensed the dark power emanating from the jagged mountains. If this was not the stronghold of the Dragon King, he could not imagine another.

“Down,” the hooded figure quietly commanded. The skeleton immediately began its descent, flapping its useless wings as if they actually held air.

“Is it safe to land so near the lair?” objected Aurim.

“It’s where we have to go.”

For Shade, this settled everything. For his anxious companion, however, such a frontal assault presaged disaster.

And, seconds later, it seemed Aurim’s fears proved well-grounded. From atop one of the two peaks flanking the largest, a huge, gray dragon took to the sky. It required little imagination to figure out exactly where the behemoth headed.

As the dragon approached, Aurim readied a spell. Yet, before he could cast it, the hooded warlock waved his hand in a circular motion.

Without hesitation, the dragon suddenly veered upward, passing by the two without noticing them. The behemoth continued on, disappearing into the black clouds.

“Be prepared,” Shade told him calmly, as if the threat that they had just faced had not existed. “We land in moments.”

With astonishing grace considering its fleshless condition, the Necri skeleton delicately deposited them feet first on the rocky ground. The moment it had done so, the batlike creature collapsed into a cluttered pile, the magically created bones vanishing even as they dropped. The skull rolled a few feet away, then clattered to a halt. The eye holes seemed to stare resentfully at the pair.

“Come,” Shade urged a still-staring Aurim.

A flash of lightning illuminated the area as they came within sight of the lair. The dragon might have left, but that did not mean that the way was unguarded. Along the side of the mountain, armed sentinels watched from various points. Most wore the broad-rimmed armor of Wenslis, but Aurim noted a few drake warriors among them, no doubt the commanders. Drakes were not so numerous as humans and so Dragon Kings often had to make use of the very race that they distrusted most.

But Shade continued on as if entirely unconcerned about the guards. Aurim had no choice but to follow and hope that his disconcerting associate knew what he did.

Two human soldiers thrust out their spears in what at first appeared warning to the newcomers. Yet, as Aurim watched, the guards separated, their gazes sweeping warily over the vicinity and not once fixing on the duo. One guard came within arm’s reach of the wizard, his bearded, scarred face as brutal as that of a drake. The wide brim of his helmet kept most of the rain from his eyes, but still he did not notice the blond figure so near.

Without a word, Shade and Aurim walked past the soldiers, ascending the path to the lair.

The way up was both the longest and shortest trek that Aurim Bedlam had ever taken. Each step he expected either a horde of guards, a dragon, or, worst of all, the Storm Lord, to fall upon them. Yet, at the same time, he moved with impatience, knowing that within he would find Yssa.

At the mouth of the cave system, Shade for the first time paused.

“He is within,” the hood announced with a turn to the left.

“Of course,” he replied to himself with a look to the right.

Aurim prepared himself. He, too, could sense the overwhelming force that was the Dragon King. If he had to face the Storm Lord to rescue Yssa, then so be it. His father had confronted the dread Toma, a far worse dragon than any, and had emerged victorious. Aurim was well aware that, if he kept his focus, his abilities had the potential to dwarf even those of his father. With Shade beside him, surely even this Dragon King would fall.

They continued past unsuspecting guards and even the grotesque, bestial lesser drakes, cousins of the dragons whom the latter used as mounts when in their warrior forms. The lesser drakes sniffed the air as they passed, but even the beasts did not truly realize their presence.

Deeper and deeper into the cavern system they went. The protection spell that Shade had surrounded them with had enabled them to see despite the storm and now it worked against the darkness of the lair. Aurim’s confidence grew as they walked. No threat had so far reared its ugly head. Perhaps with the warlock so near, even the Dragon King would not notice them.

Then, without warning, they stepped into what could only be the Storm Lord’s sanctum. The chamber was the largest and well-adapted for the movements of a full-grown dragon. The walls were of a peculiar onyx within which miniature storms raged. At the far end, a huge dais consisting of three great steps led up to a magnificently carved if oddly damaged throne.

Then Aurim sensed another presence, one whose nearness so startled him that he quickly looked around the vast chamber. To the side he eventually noticed what at first he took for a statue . . . until he saw who it resembled.

“Mother?” For the moment, all thought of Yssa fell to the wayside as Aurim rushed toward the figure. Surely he was overreacting; surely there was a good reason why the Storm Lord would have a statue of his mother here.

But as he approached, the wizard more and more sensed her so-familiar presence. He could have mistaken it no more than he could have his own.

“By the Manor!” Aurim gasped, putting a hand to her cheek and discovering only then that it was made of ice . . . rapidly melting ice.

And as it melted, so, too, would his mother.

She still lived, that much the wizard could feel, but for how long, he could not say. Aurim immediately began delving into the spellwork, seeking a way of unbinding it quickly. The casting had been done in a manner not at all like he had been taught and yet it had a familiar feel. Almost it reminded him of-of Yssa?

He tried not to think about why she would do such a horrific thing to his mother, whom he knew Yssa respected greatly and wished would come to accept their pairing. Instead, Aurim continued to search for the point of focus, the place where he could make the entire spell unravel.

So caught up was he in his task that he at first did not notice that someone watched him from another shadowed corner of the cavern. Only when the stare finally burned into him did Aurim gaze up to discover a figure literally perched on the wall.

A figure that was none other than Shade.

Aurim quickly glanced over his shoulder . . . and saw his companion just turning to look at him.

The hooded immediately shifted, tipping to the right as the warlock clearly looked past the young wizard . . . and at himself.

There were two Shades?

“We expected you,” said the one who had accompanied Aurim. “We felt you.”

“I sensed you in turn,” remarked the figure on the wall with the same bland tone. The hood shifted so as to eye Aurim again. “She’s mine.”

“And he’s ours . . .” said the wizard’s Shade. “He knows us. He can make us whole, make us the original . . .”

“She could do the same for me,” the other replied. “But I got curious as to what it would be like to feel her emotions as her life melted away.”

Aurim’s expression darkened. “That’s monstrous!”

“Is it? I suppose it is . . .” The Shade on the wall rubbed his indistinct chin in thought, then nodded almost eagerly. “Yes! You’re right! Monstrous! I’ve chosen, then!”

“Not fair!” snarled Aurim’s Shade without warning. With a tilt of his head to the right, he added, “Not fair at all! We want to be the original!”

“But I’m ahead in the game! I’ve chosen the path! All I need is a name now . . .”

As fearful as he was about losing his mother, Aurim could not help but listen to the rantings of the pair, especially the one on the wall. He knew enough about the legend of the warlock to understand what it meant if this