Offspring (The Sword of the Dragon) (42 page)

“Hope.”

“You mean that I am a beacon …”

“The future is dark, Ilfedo, and without you this world will fall without hope of redemption.” Her eyes pleaded with him. “Do this for me. Do this for our child. Fight this evil, and vow to do so until the day you die.”

“What do you say, Ilfedo?” In a flash, the albino dragon loomed beside them. A gentle smile showed on his boney face. “Are you up to the challenge?”

Ilfedo’s jaw dropped open in astonishment. “How are you here?”

“Never mind the details when death is on the line, my friend.” The magnificent creature dipped his head, and smoke curled from its nostrils. “Just answer the question.”

“First, we need a moment more of privacy.”

The dragon looked away.

Bending over Dantress’s tear-streaked face, Ilfedo kissed her with all the pent up passion in his heart. “We will be together again, someday,” he whispered in her ear. “A love like ours will never end.”

The dragon grabbed him from behind. “Brace yourself, Ilfedo. The battle for your soul has only begun!” Albino’s claws clasped Ilfedo’s body and lit up with fire. Searing heat shot through him. The pain was immense and then it grew unbearable. Tears sprang from his eyes, and he dug his fingernails into his palm until he drew blood. The darkness within now became more apparent. It was a presence, an evil, trying to drag him into despair. A name appeared in his mind—the name of his oppressor.

“You don’t want to live,” his unseen adversary told him. “Stay here, die here, live here, and be with the one you love.”

A growl from Albino shook the ground. “Show thyself to me, sorcerer! Show yourself to me and release this man.”

Mist rose from the ground. It twisted into the form of a man that cried in torturous pain. “Oh I will not reveal that,” the mist cried. It bowed to the dragon. Albino’s scales radiated light, and it roared at the mist. “Revealed you will be, for you have a twisted soul and have rejected thy God.”

The misty form screamed again, and this time it solidified into the form of a dark-featured man. The dragon roared again, and the claws of his other hand split the ground, causing the mist to fall therein. “Auron! You have fallen too far this time and retribution is upon thee.”

Ilfedo cursed himself. This being, whatever it was, had tried to get him out of its way. It wanted to dispose of him, to rid itself of the threat he posed, and it was assaulting his soul to attain victory. How selfish he’d been to entertain such a thought! “You cannot win,” he told it. “I’m coming back, and I will stop you!” He struggled against the presence, wishing it would give up the fight. But it only grew stronger, and he weaker.

Oganna alighted from Vectra’s back and ran ahead of the megatrath horde to the fort gates. “Father!” She wrapped her arms around him, and he stiffened. She backed away, hurt by his apparent disinterest.

Ombre walked over and clutched her in a bear hug. “What are you doing here?” He looked past her, and a look of relief passed over his face. “Ah, you came with your aunts.”

The five sisters lined up beside her and greeted the men. But Ilfedo did not respond to them either, and Oganna frowned. His eyes did not meet hers when she glanced at him, and there was something strange about the way he studied the approaching megatraths.

“Father, what is wrong?”

He glared at Vectra as she came to stand behind Oganna. “Aren’t these the creatures that I wanted you to slay?”

“Slay?” Caritha turned a withering gaze upon him. “You sent us to deal with the creature that murdered the people of Bordelin, not to wipe out its species. This is Vectra, leader of the megatraths and ruler of Resgeria, the land of the southern desert. She has come in peace as your ally.”

Ilfedo kicked his boot into the dirt. “Oganna, why are
you
here? I sent the sisters, not you, in pursuit of the creature. Yet here you are as if you took part in their mission.”

The sisters spoke up, taking turns in their eagerness to show how well their pupil had performed. They told him, from start to finish, how Oganna had followed them, and later rescued them from death in the arena. “If she had not engaged Loos and his cohorts in combat, we would not have been able to recover from the first attack.” After they had finished their story, they stood silent, waiting for him to reply.

When Ilfedo did not speak up, Vectra did. She rested her right hand on Oganna’s shoulders and spoke to him. “It is as the Warrioresses have told you—your daughter achieved a great victory against discouraging odds. She has earned a place of legend among my people, and I was honored to join with your great nation as allies.”

“And you think that
I
will go along with this alliance?” He tilted his head back and laughed harshly. “I would die before joining forces with a low, dirty race of desert dwellers!” In the stunned silence that followed, Ilfedo spun around and reentered the fort. He shot out a final insult as he departed. “The sooner you all leave us, the better it will be for you.”

Oganna turned to the megatrath and tried not to cry. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what has happened. Believe me, please believe me. That is not like him, at all.” She gritted her teeth and glared at the fort. “Do not worry, Vectra. The Warrioresses will find out what is bothering father. He always listens to them.”

“Humph! It did not seem to me that he was in the mood to listen to anyone.” The creature thundered away after a stiff bow, muttering something under her breath about how dumb Ilfedo was compared to his daughter. “A fighter without honor.”

With a sigh, Oganna shrugged and shook her head at Caritha. “What did I do? I truly did not think he would respond like that.”

“Leave him to me and my sisters.” The woman grasped Oganna’s shoulder and whispered in her ear. “Just wander the fort and find out if anything seems amiss. I feel that something strange is going on here, almost evil, and it may have something to do with your father. We will speak to him, and if Ombre is willing, he will go with us.”

“There
is
something strange about Ilfedo.” Ombre joined the conversation with a furious eye. He fingered his sword’s pommel. “He hasn’t been right ever since we started making nightly ambushes on the desert vipers. On the last attack he encountered an Art’en.” Oganna’s jaw dropped. He nodded his head and raised an eyebrow. “This one targeted your father on our last raid. I’m not sure why, but he has been exceedingly moody and indifferent ever since.”

Ombre crooked his arm, and Caritha took it, letting him lead her into the fort. Laura and Evela chattered back and forth as they followed. Rose’el went too, her arms crossed again. Levena paid them no heed, though she trailed along. She had her sword unsheathed and was picking at the rust with a cloth. Oganna watched them enter the main building, then started to wander the fort. If her aunts found out nothing,
she
would.

There was no answer to Caritha’s knock at Ilfedo’s office door. She could feel the tension hanging in the air as Ombre and her sisters hovered behind her. They all felt as she did—uneasy, confused, and concerned. Ombre’s recounting of Ilfedo’s behavior in front of the council earlier that day greatly troubled her.

She shoved aside the questions that were pummeling her mind and braced herself as she opened the door. Ilfedo was sitting at his desk, his head buried in his hands. He was digging his knuckles into his skull. If she hadn’t known better, Caritha might have attributed this to a severe headache. However, when he looked up, she put her hand over her mouth and gasped, for Ilfedo’s face twisted in a sneer, and his eyes gazed without seeing.

“My brother, what has happened to you?” She skirted his desk, bent over him, and grasped his right arm. Laura, Evela, Rose’el, and Levena filed into the room and stood in a line facing him. Ombre stepped past them and leaned against the wall, looking out the window.

Rose’el leaned over the desk and stared into Ilfedo’s eyes. After a few moments she frowned at him and raised a fist in his face. “Just give the word, Caritha, and I’ll gladly slap him.”

Caritha rested her hands on the desk. “That won’t be necessary. Stand back. Let’s talk civil.”

“You mean that you will
try
.” Laura twisted her mouth uncomfortably.

Caritha ignored her. “Ilfedo, what is wrong? Let us help you. You know we can.”

For an instant his face softened and his gaze relaxed. “Help—help. Pull me from this. Pull me out.” His eyes hardened again, and he stood up. “Get out! Leave me be.”

“Ilfedo,” she said, “you can’t mean it.”

“Oh yes, I do. Leave now, or I will call for the guards.” He glowered at Ombre. “You too, get out of my sight before I thrust you through.”

Caritha frowned deeply. “What’s wrong with you?”

His body twitched, and his eyes looked normal again, then they reverted to their former condition, and he clenched his fists. “Do not make me hurt you.”

She rose to go, but he grabbed her and slapped her across the face. As tears spilled, Ombre rushed over. His fist smashed with brutal strength into Ilfedo’s head. He sprawled over the desk. Caritha wept as she stared at her unconscious brother-in-law.

Wiping her tears with a handkerchief, Ombre kissed her stinging cheek, reached his arm around her waist, and guided her out of the room. Her sisters followed, though Rose’el held on to the desk, as she said, “I’ll teach him.”

“Come on, Rose’el. Can you not see? Ilfedo is not himself.”

The sisters pulled her out of the room. She cursed Ilfedo and growled. “Let me kick him. Just one kick, and I’ll bring him to his senses!”

“Enough, Rose’el.” Laura grabbed her arm. “Let it rest.”

Ombre ran a hand over Caritha’s cheek. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, but shaken.” She hung her head. “What will we do now? He doesn’t even want to speak to us and—”

“He seems evil,” Evela offered.

“Well, does anyone have a suggestion how we can help him?”

A lad ran past them into Ilfedo’s office and emerged a minute later. Ombre pulled him aside and inquired what he’d been doing.

“The Lord Warrior is furious about something.” The lad’s voice trembled. “He is demanding to meet with his counselors right away. I’d better go now and do as he told me. He started to run down the corridor.

“Thank you, my boy.” Ombre turned him about and knelt to face him. “Now, was there anything else?”

In a whisper the messenger told him more. As the lad left, Ombre folded his hands behind his back. “Well, ladies, it seems that our
friend
has stipulated that we are not invited to attend this forthcoming meeting.”

“Of all the nerve!” Rose’el started marching down the hall.

“Where are you going?” Caritha asked.

“To the council chamber. Where else?”