The Dragon's Lover (22 page)

“I wonder what they are doing here?” Feyden
murmured.

“I can't imagine it's a good thing,” Raine said. “We
mere mortals might be incapable of altering the balance, but
whatever was powerful enough to bring the machinery here might be
powerful enough to tip the scales.” She gave one last look at the
immense piece of equipment. “And I doubt it will be toward the
light.”

They set out again towards the main Gate. Their
progress was slow, both because of the immense distance they were
covering, but also because of their wounded companions. Elyara
gamely tried to support Dagna, but Lorifal soon relieved her. He
was the perfect height for the bard to lean upon and she gratefully
accepted his assistance. Gunnar helped Bristol along, steadfastly
refusing Feyden's offer of assistance. He seemed to feel a sense of
responsibility for Bristol's condition, although it had not been
his fault.

They seemed to be nearing the great Gate although it
was hard to judge the distance based on the sheer size of the
structure. Off to the left was a raised platform, a structure that
Raine was certain had not been there before. At first glance, it
did not seem that large, but as they approached, it became apparent
that there were hundreds of marble steps leading up to the dais,
and the platform itself seemed something of an altar. They stopped
at the base of the stairs uncertainly. Raine looked to the gate to
her right, which was still tightly closed. She looked back at the
great scales, trying to fathom their purpose and position. She then
sighed and started up the stairs with the others following.

They had to stop halfway up to rest. Raine was tense
and thought of continuing on her own. Anxiety swirled about them as
if it had taken physical form, and she forcibly pushed it away.
They continued on.

Lorifal was breathing hard by the time they reached
the top. The air had thickened as they progressed across the great
courtyard, and it had grown hotter. It was even hotter on the
altar. Sweat ran down his back in rivulets. Beads of sweat appeared
on Idonea's forehead. In fact all were perspiring heavily with the
exception of Raine, who was dry simply because her body had grown
colder the closer they came to the top of the stairs.

A man stood there. A man dressed in black robes. A
man with strange green eyes and thin features that bordered on
cadaverous. Oddly, this did not make him unattractive but rather
somewhat mesmerizing. Raine examined him, and he examined the band
as a whole.

“Hmm,” she said, which brought his intense and
fearful gaze around to her. He smiled broadly and Dagna took an
inadvertent step backward, nearly tumbling down the stairs. He had
a mouthful of razor sharp teeth.

“Hmm,” Raine said again, her unconcern pronounced,
and this caused the man to smile even more broadly.

“I have been waiting for you,” he said in a deep,
rumbling voice. It was not loud, yet echoed throughout the great
courtyard like thunder rolling across an open plain. “I thought you
would be here long before now.”

“We ran into a few mishaps,” Raine said casually.

This brought the fearful gaze around to the others of
the band. “Yes, your little troupe has provided me ample material
for my experiments, allowing me to fine-tune my process.”

Raine's eyes narrowed. “What experiments?”

The man's eyes gleamed. “Here, let me show you.”

He raised his arms and the sleeves of his black robes
hung down like wings, giving him a dreadful appearance. An awful,
grating noise filled the courtyard and all turned towards the great
Gate. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the gigantic doors began to
swing outward. They did not move quickly, nor did they move far,
but the power required to effect even that small movement was
unfathomable. And as soon as the doors were opened shoulder-width,
Hyr'rok'kin began squeezing through the opening. Granted, they came
through in single file and not with any great speed, but still they
seeped from the Underworld like noxious fumes.

Raine looked back at the dark-robed man. It was an
extraordinary feat, the power almost unrivaled. But she did not
think him capable of opening the doors any further, nor did she
think him capable of holding them open for any sustained length of
time.

“And that is just the beginning,” the man said as if
sensing her thoughts. He waved his arms once more and a great
metallic clanking rolled across the courtyard. Link by link, a
chain began forming from the ebony platform of the great scales. It
was hard to judge the size of the chain, but each link had to have
been the height of a Marrow Shard or greater. The chain stretched
out, a sharp clank emitting each time a link formed and attached
itself to the chain. The band watched in amazement as the immense
chain stretched across the courtyard, then attached its final link
to the left door of the great gate.

Raine watched the Hyr'rok'kin pour from the gates,
still trying to fathom the purpose of the contraption. As their
numbers increased, a tortured squeal of metal-on-metal came from
the scales as very slowly, the ebony platform began to tip toward
the dark. The great chain began to tighten, and as it did so, it
began to pull the door of the gate. Once completely taut, the door
began to slowly move, and Raine understood. As the darkness poured
out of the Underworld, it tipped the scales towards evil. This in
turn put strain on the chain, opening the doors ever-so-slightly
more. At some point, the Hyr'rok'kin would enter two abreast, the
doors would open more, and it would become a self-sustaining
process. Theoretically, it could only be countered by good, which
would re-balance the scales and slacken the chain.

The man smiled his evil, fang-filled smile once more.
“And that is where your little band has proven so instrumental.
Each time I moved the scales out-of-balance, your ridiculously
selfless acts, your camaraderie, your foolhardy bravery, would
shift the balance back, giving me more and more detail on the
process.”

This did not seem an entirely truthful statement to
Raine. “Instrumental?” she said, “Or frustrating? How many times
have you opened that gate only to have us unknowingly shut it?”

The smile disappeared abruptly, then reappeared once
more in an even more hideous variation. This one held a sly
malevolence in addition to the earlier dark glee. “I thought your
death alone would tip the scales to the breaking point.”

“Breaking point?” Raine said. She at last understood
the full extent of this monster's plan. “You don't want to just
open the gates, you want to tear them down.”

The mouthful of fangs appeared once more. “Yes,” he
rumbled, “then there will be no more light. There will only be a
constant stream of darkness from the bowels of the earth.”

“Hmm,” Raine said with the same unimpressed
disinterest as before, a monosyllabic reply that finally pushed the
man into fury.

“You have no idea what you are dealing with,” he spat
at her.

“Oh, I think I do,” she murmured back.

Lorifal stepped forward. “No wizard is going to use
the scales of my people to bring darkness to the world!”

“He is not a wizard,” Raine said warningly, pulling
Lorifal back. But the dwarf's verbal attack and Raine's warning
only made the man laugh, laughter that boomed out across the
courtyard as the dark robes disappeared into a blinding flash of
light. The man transformed into his true form and towered above
them, his sinewy neck weaving back and forth.

Everyone except for Raine and Idonea stepped backward
to the edge of the steps. Raine did not step back because she had
expected the transformation, and Idonea because she was too stunned
to move. Out of everything she had expected, a master wizard, a
demi-god, a demon'ai, she had not even considered that another
dragon might be waiting for them.

Raine examined the black scales, the glowing green
eyes, and sought for the name in her memory.

“Ragnar'ante'ilain.”

The ancient dragon smiled and this time his fangs
appeared far more suitable for his fearsome appearance. “You know
me,” he hissed with satisfaction.

“I know of you,” Raine replied. “You have a long
history of betrayal.”

The dragon leaned close and Raine did not flinch from
the hot breath. He returned to his earlier conversation. “I thought
your death alone would tip the scales, but that has been forbidden
me.”

This comment made Raine far more uneasy than all of
his earlier, threatening histrionics. “And why is that?” she
asked.

“I have very special instructions regarding you,
little Arlanian.”

Raine's jaw clenched.

“I am certain the deaths of your brave comrades will
tip the scales sufficiently, and when we are finished here, you
will be 'escorted' through those doors. You will not be returning,”
he said with false regret. He appeared to ponder her fate. “I
almost feel sorry for you, for I am certain you will be used in a
most degrading Arlanian fashion.”

Raine tried to control her anger. She still needed
information from the creature and she focused on what he had just
revealed.

“So you are in fact taking instructions from
someone.”

The dragon's jaws snapped shut. He could pay dearly
for revealing too much.

Idonea shifted, unconsciously fingering the artifact
in her pocket. The movement caught the dragon's eye and he swung
his great head around to her.

“Oh, that's right,” he said, “I nearly forgot about
you. Now your plans, if I'm not mistaken, were to steal my power
with that little gem you have in your pocket.”

Idonea seemed to shrink in size and moved closer to
Raine. It had seemed like a good plan when she had expected a
powerful mage or wizard. But she was not certain even the white
Elkar'Anon was powerful enough to absorb the soul of an ancient
dragon, and even if it was, she could not think of any way to use
it now that the dragon knew that she had it.

“I thought to kill you like all the rest,” the dragon
said, “but now I think I will take your little toy and use it on
you. There is something remarkable about you, something you
yourself take for granted and do not appreciate. But I will be
happy to take that power from you.”

Against her will, Idonea found herself removing the
soul catcher from her pocket. It was a beautiful crystal, pure
white and shining with some type of light from within. She held it
at eye level, gazing longingly at the artifact held by a limb which
she no longer had any control over. The black dragon leaned
forward, towering over her. He admired the amulet.

“So it is Elkar'Anon,” he said with pleasure. “I
thought it no longer existed. You will give it to me, then I will
take your life force as you sought to take mine.”

Idonea fought for control. She did not hand the
amulet to the dragon, but nor could she pull it back towards her.
It hovered between them.

“Give it to me,” he said, enjoying her resistance
because he knew he would prevail. His influence caused the soul
catcher to inch towards him, but Idonea fought to bring it back,
struggling mightily against his control.

“No,” she said through gritted teeth, the strain on
her face obvious.

“You cannot resist, foolish little mage,” the dragon
said, “Now give it to me or I will take it.”

“Oh this is ridiculous,” Raine said with impatience.
“Idonea, give it to me.”

Raine snatched the amulet from Idonea's hand, then
tossed it to the dragon. “If you want her soul, it's yours.”

“Raine!” Feyden and Dagna exclaimed simultaneously,
stunned.

“No!” Idonea cried as the dragon caught the white
crystal. The move startled him but he laughed at the betrayal by
the Arlanian. This was the point where allegiances often failed and
the panic and shock in the mage's eyes did his black heart good. He
raised the crystal to Idonea, preparing to absorb her life force,
and she cringed from him. He pointed the soul catcher directly at
her.

And nothing happened.

Raine gazed at him, arms crossed over her chest, a
look of mild contempt on her features. Her eyes were a very cool
blue.

“Oh that's right,” she said, “it doesn't work
anymore.”

The dragon stared at the soul catcher in disbelief,
shaking it as if to make something happen. The self-illumination of
the artifact was gone and it looked to be nothing more than an
ordinary crystal, albeit a very pretty one.

“What did you do?” the black dragon demanded.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Raine said
mildly.

But Idonea knew exactly what she had done. The minute
she had touched Elkar'Anon, the enchanted item's magical properties
disappeared. Raine had saved her by destroying the soul catcher.
She stared at the other woman wordlessly.

“Sorry I broke your toy,” Raine said, no apology
evident in her voice. She kicked a stone that clattered across the
great platform. “I was actually hoping that would work. Did you
have some secondary plan?”

Idonea shook her head, still mute. How this woman
could remain so calm under their current circumstances was beyond
belief. Although the destruction of Elkar'Anon had stopped the
downward descent of the ebony platform of the great scales, that
had merely slackened the chain. The dragon concentrated forcefully
to keep the gates open, and the unending stream of Hyr'rok'kin
slowly put tension on the chain once more. The army was massing at
the base of the stairs of the altar.

“No alternate plan, eh?” Raine asked. She glanced
down at the horde. “Well, then it's a good thing your mother is
here.”

Idonea had never been so pleased to hear those words
in her life. And while the others and the black dragon sought to
comprehend this most arbitrary statement, their effort was
interrupted by a thunderous roar that split the very air of the
courtyard. The horrific noise made the Hyr'rok'kin tremble as the
sound of leathery wings swooped down over them. A blast of fire
incinerated a swathe of them before they could see their attacker,
and the bodies piled up in front of the great gate, slowing their
egress.