Suzerain of the Beast (Vision Dream Series Book 3), page 81
“Felly, did you feel that?”
“Yes. Right through to my bones, Lair.”
After a moment both she and Lair seemed to recover some of their strength. Meanwhile, the Darus knights dispatched the rest of the enemy patrol. When the short battle was over, Lord Minegreisel and Jesdoril rode over to where Felly and Lair were.
“Are you two going to be all right?” asked the lord.
“I think so,” said Felly. “When Lord Shaapret…disappeared it took something out of us.”
“Felicidara, Lairchavion, your army’s leader is gone,” said Prince Dareldin, riding up to join them. “How will this affect them? Can they still battle?”
“It is unclear whether this will alter the spell, Your Highness. Though I do feel the spell has been weakened,” said Lair. “Perhaps another will be able to replace Lord Shaapret.”
Lair waved for one of the knights of the army of First Magic to join he and Felly.
“Lord Shaapret is…gone. We will need another from your ranks to assume his leadership,” said Lair.
“Your Majesties, none of the other lord commanders may fulfill that role. When that part of the spell which is meant to lead is destroyed, the one…or ones who invoked the spell must lead us.”
Captain Settrellidur trotted his horse up to them.
“Pardon me, My Lord, but one of the enemy has escaped. A few of my knights are pursuing him,” reported Captain Settrellidur to Lord Minegreisel.
“Make sure he does not escape, Captain,” ordered Lord Minegreisel.
“Aye, My Lord,” said Captain Settrellidur, and he galloped his horse off towards the bend to join the others.
Felicidara’s mother walked her mount up beside her daughter.
“What is wrong, Felly dear,” said Mersarahtina, her voice full of concern. “I saw you nearly fall off your mount.”
“I am fine now, Mother,” replied Felly, not wanting her mother to worry. “When Lord Shaapret defeated the sorcerer, his loss drew away some of our energy, but we are much better now.”
“You are holding something back, Felicidara,” said her mother with a frown.
Felly did not reply.
“Lair, what about you?” Mersarahtina asked the young wizard boy.
“I ah…ah…” stuttered Lair.
“Mersarahtina, it seems the two of them will have to lead the army,” said Jesdoril. “Do not worry, I will stay by their sides and keep them safe.”
Felly saw her mother’s scolding face show for a moment and Mersarahtina opened her mouth. Felly was sure her mother would disapprove of that kind of plan. But then Mersarahtina closed her mouth and only nodded. “As I will myself.”
Then one of the riders who had been fleeing the Venordaladian patrol came up to Lord Minegreisel.
“Thank thee for our rescue,” said the rider. “I was told an army from Darus was coming through the pass, but I did not fully believe it could be done…and in such numbers. This will truly help our cause.”
“Who are your men, and what is your cause?” asked Lord Minegreisel.
“I am Captain Zemmerdar and these men are Palzintine rebels,” said the captain.
“Zemmerdar, I have heard of you,” said Prince Dareldin as he joined them. “Lord Teneus told me you stayed behind to train the rebels.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” said Captain Zemmerdar. “I have a thousand in the mountains surrounding the capital and more coming up from the South.”
“Then we will need to coordinate with you and your men on the diversion you have engineered,” said the prince.
“We…we…have come up with a different plan, Your Highness,” said the captain.
“What sort of plan?” asked Lord Minegreisel. “We were counting on you and your men. We need to scale the back walls and that will take time. And we have little of that.”
“Disappointing news, Captain,” said Prince Dareldin, looking none-to-happy.
“Please, My Lord, Your Highness, here me out,” said Captain Zemmerdar. “I have some people going into the capital to…to open the back gates.”
“Open the old back gates?” said Jesdoril. “I have seen those gates. What hasn’t been brick and mortared over is just plain rusted solid. There is not anyone who could open them. Not even an army twice this size.”
“We have sent a lad—”
“A lad!”
“A wizard named Ardwyrin,” said Captain Zemmerdar. “He believes he can open the gates…and I believe him.”
“Ardwyrin…Ardwyrin,” said Prince Dareldin. “Yes, I remember, he was the one who sunk some ships in the harbor.”
“He brought down all the ships in the harbor in a matter of moments,” said Captain Zemmerdar, sounding proud. “If he cannot open the gates, he will tear them down.”
❖ ❖ ❖
Felly looked down at the glowing lights of the city below. It was about one turn of the hourglass before midnight. The air was frigid and her breath puffed and curled before her. To her left was Lair, who was staring intently at the great city of Palzin below them. Beside the wizard of Ardenon was the young wizard boy’s surrogate father, Knight Jesdoril. Felly could see in the knight’s eyes that he cared for the boy like a son. On her right was the prince of Darus. This night, she and Lair would be his equals in commanding this battle. It seemed odd for a girl of the country to be this close to the future king of her land, let alone having him consult with her about the course of this attack. Next to the prince was her mother, her uncle, Captain Settrellidur and Lord Minegreisel. The leaders assembled upon this ridge were the hope of not only the Darus people, but also the people of all the kingdoms.
“Captain Zemmerdar says his wizard will be able to open the old back gates. And soon,” said Prince Dareldin. “When the gates are opened, we must be ready to storm through the breach before the battle sorcerers and soldiers can rally to stop us.”
“I have positioned most of my men as close to the gates as I dare,” said Lord Minegreisel. “They will help secure the gates for the army of magic to enter. You two wizards be ready.”
“Do not worry our spell army will sweep down and overwhelm them,” said Lair. “With us at the front.”
“Not too close to the front,” added Felly, as she saw her mother approaching carrying some food and wine.
“It looks so peaceful down there. It is hard to believe that soon it will all be plunged into the chaos of war,” said Mersarahtina, who came up to stand next to her daughter.
Felly leaned her head on her mother’s shoulder. Part of her was excited about being the wizard of Darus and the queen commander of a vast army of First Magic. Another part of her just wanted to go back to her scrolls and her simple home life with her mother as it was before the invasion. But there was no going back…at least not now. Still, as her mother gently petted her hair, Felly felt a tiny bit of that past was still with her.
“Someday the peace will return, Mother,” said Felly.
“Why did it have to be this night of all nights,” replied her mother.
Felly had forgotten that this was Vissy Yule Eve. A night that she had always looked forward to every year. Her family would come over for a great holiday feast and, of course, the traditional holiday toast.
“Mother!”
“What is it?”
“The wine! The toast!”
Prince Dareldin looked up, but the night sky was overcast, “Seems close enough to the midnight hour to me.”
Everyone nodded his or her agreement.
“Perhaps Her Majesty would not mind helping her old mother hand out the toast,” said Mersarahtina.
“Nothing would make this queen happier,” replied Felly.
Felly and her mother poured wine into small wooden cups and handed them out to the men.
“My father always had my mother, the queen, give the toast every Vissy Yule Eve,” said Prince Dareldin. “It seems fitting that we ask our young queen to keep up that tradition for us.”
“Hear! Hear!” said the others.
Taking a deep breath, Felly raised her tiny wooden cup high, “Let us give thanks this holy night to our Holy Father for letting his nature be known to all, from king to farmer, our Heavenly Father takes us all into his Sacredist Heart. Happy Vissy Yule to you all!”
“Happy Vissy Yule,” was their reply.
❖ CHAPTER 85 ❖
THE IMMENSE HOARFROST dragon stared down at her. His huge bluish-silver reptilian eyes regarded her. In those inhuman eyes, she saw a very human hurt. Somehow the tears help the great dragon to search for some long lost love, from some long lost time. But this was a new day. And she needed a tear for her quest.
What was she going to do?
Svelldyrmar, your tears are yours to give or not to give, Angelterra finally said to the dragon. I cannot reveal the source of my need, but Lord Georveld also wishes a single one of your tears to heal his sick mother.
A tear for healing is easily given, said Svelldyrmar. But if I am correct, the tear you wish to take from me…is another matter.
The great grandfather dragon lumbered over to a nearby supply wagon that had been over turned by the recent chaos. With two talons, it expertly picked up a large empty barrel which had been part of the upset cargo of the wagon and put the brim of the barrel to its steely gray eye. A single tear dripped from that massive reptilian eye and was caught in the barrel, nearly filling it. Svelldyrmar then gently set the barrel down next to Lord Georveld. The young lord bowed his head in thanks for the gesture.
And now for you, Vessel, said the grandfather dragon.
Steam began to rise off of the icy scales of the hoarfrost dragon. Soon it was enveloped in a billowing cloud of loudly hissing steam, completely obscured. After a moment, the cloud began to thin and a single small figure emerged. It was the blue-skinned boy from the cavern of the icy beast. The boy was carrying the same small wooden chest that Angelterra had seem him holding in the cavern and had seen him swallow when he transformed into the dragon.
“Take this,” said the blue-skinned lad. “But return it to me when you have completed your quest.”
He handed the small box to Angelterra. She took it and nodded her thanks.
“I promise when I have finished I will return it back to you,” said the princess.
A great relief settled upon her as the object of her quest seemed to be right there in her hands. She twisted the small gold catch that secured the box and slowly lifted the rough wooden lid. There, couched in a bed of gray velvet, was the tiny article she had been searching for all this time.
But…but…it wasn’t what she had expected…
Suddenly the box was snatched violently from her hands by an unseen force. Glancing around, she noticed that everyone had seen the box vanish too.
“What have you done?” exclaimed the blue-skinned lad. “My tear!”
“I saw you start to open the chest one moment, and the next the whole thing was gone,” said Lord Georveld.
“Up there!” shouted Jeela, pointing to two individuals standing on a ridge not far from them. They had a third person kneeling in the snow in chains. “Two battle sorcerers! And they have my sister!”
One of the sorcerers was holding Svelldyrmar’s wooden box, while the other one faced a shimmering, translucent disk and was preparing for their escape through his blood magic portal. Without thinking, Angelterra flung her hand out in the direction of the sorcerers, but instead of a bolt of blue energy, a plethora of ice shards flew at the sorcerers. One of the shards struck the man working the portal flipping him backwards and right into the immature red shimmering portal spell. Instantly the man was ripped apart, spewing blood everywhere. The second sorcerer who held both the small box and Syveela was saved that fate by a shield of red energy, which he now held before him.
Jeela drew her sword and charged at the remaining sorcerer.
“For my sister!” screamed the lady knight.
Jeela hid behind her crystal shield as she rushed ahead. The sorcerer hurled a volley of red energy bolts in an attempt to stop the charging knight. Running alongside Jeela was the entire wolf pack as they too were coming to Syveela’s aid.
Why was Syveela doing nothing? She was letting herself be captured….
Angelterra remembered how the powerful Jol-Setherath had easily defeated Lord Gravloc’s two uncles who were both high council sorcerers.
Jeela was now too close to the sorcerer for Angelterra to risk another attack and harm Syveela. So the princess could only watch as the second sorcerer, with a few desperate hand gestures, completed the blood magic spell and dove into the red shimmering portal, dragging the unresisting Syveela with him before Jeela could reach her sister. Jeela hacked at the collapsing portal with little effect. And, in an instant, the portal vanished. The wolves suddenly seemed completely lost for a moment with the sorceress now gone. Then one of them howled, and, as if by command, the giant pack darted off towards a nearby woods. Jeela returned alone, her head bowed.
“I almost saved her,” muttered the lady knight.
“I do not understand? She was our enemy and nearly destroyed us all,” said Lord Georveld. “And thus she deserves her fate.”
“She was never our real enemy,” said Angelterra.
Angelterra went to the blue-skinned lad who was now sitting in the snow with his knees tucked up under his chin, rocking back and forth.
“My love is lost to me forever. I will never find her now,” he said to no one in particular, then he began to sob.
The Palzintine Princess knelt next to the great Svelldyrmar in his human form. She stroked his snowy white hair.
“I will find a way to get it back for you,” promised Angelterra.
She was sad for Svelldyrmar’s loss, but she was also devastated at being so close to completing her quest only to have it snatched away from her.
“Look,” Angelterra heard her cousin Adilia exclaim. “Look, who it is!”
Angelterra glanced in the direction in which Adilia was pointing. There darting across the snow-covered meadow towards them was a large white buck. And on that buck rode a young lass with long white hair and a bow strapped across her back.
“Vinnida?” said Jeela.
The young white-haired lass jumped down from atop of the stag and rushed to the side of the blue-skinned lad.
“Svell, where have you been all these years?” said Vinnida, putting her arm around the lad.
“Vinny? Is that really you?” said the lad, looking up.
“It is me,” said Vinnida. “Where were you? Allreina and I searched the whole world for you. We finally had to give you up for lost. It broke her heart.”
“Allreina! Do you know where she is? I have been searching all the realms, dark and light, for her. With the Tear.”
“The Tear of Forever?”
“Yes, I could never find her after the demon banished her from this realm,” said Svelldyrmar.
“Svell, she eventually found her way back. And went looking for you,” said Vinnida. “But we never found you. She went on to help mankind defeat the servants of the Fallen Spirits in the early times.”
“Where is she now? I want to see her,” said Svelldyrmar, eagerly.
“Gone. She is no more as you knew her,” said Vinnida. “You must move on now.”
“I will not abandon her. I will keep searching the realms,” insisted Svelldyrmar. “She is my true love.”
“Aye, that she is,” agreed Vinnida. “And you are hers. But you see, she was killed in the wars with the Fallen Spirits.”
“Impossible,” hissed the blue-skinned lad.
“She was taken to the realm of First Magic and healed. But it cost her…her selfness,” said Vinnida.
“But we can bring her back, Vinny,” said Svelldyrmar. “I know we can.”
“My mother would not approve,” replied Vinnida, standing up and walking a ways away.
“Vinny, please. Please help me find her.”
“Oh, that is an easy matter,” said Vinnida. “It is bringing her back that I fear might not be successful. We may lose her completely if we fail.”
“You know she would wish you to try,” said Svelldyrmar.
“Very well,” said Vinnida.
And before Angelterra’s eyes the young white-haired lass became an attractive older woman. The older Vinnida went over to Nermindar who was standing over the charred remains of his twin of magic, Allie.
“I suppose healing her again after this is not possible,” said Nermindar, sadly.
“All those who bond with First Magic morn the loss of that connection when it inevitably happens,” said the older Vinnida. “Some of her essence will always reside as part of your eternal soul. Your bond will be forever broken, but do not fret too much, for she now has a new path on which to travel.”
Vinnida then went to the barrel of dragon tears which Lord Georveld stood over. She smiled at him.
“May I?”
“You may take whatever you need,” replied the young lord.
Vinnida cupped her hands together and scooped up a bit of the tears. Carefully, with the tears cupped before her, she made her way back to the charred remains of the being of First Magic. Slowly she poured the tears upon the lifeless body. At first the tears dripped off without doing more than wetting the place where they touched. Then a shimmering white light covered Allie’s remains. Allie then slowly vanished away, leaving only a spot of melted snow.
“Thank thee for the attempt,” said Nermindar.
“You are still sad, Handsome Wizard,” said Vinnida. “Come back with me. Stay with me.”
“I would love nothing more,” replied Nermindar. “But I promised Princess Swevladilia’s parents that I would bring her home.”
“Do not miss this opportunity. Go with her. I will find my own way back,” said Adilia.
“But your parents commissioned me to—”
