Vegenrage: Dragon Reclaim (20 page)

“How did things go in Westfall? Did you see Kerben? I miss my old friend.”

“Yes, I did see Kerben. He is good. He has continued his study in dark magic, and from what he has told me, he has been able to summon the minions of the inner realm. I fear for him, Arglon. He seems to be okay, but he has made contact with demons and is trapped in Westfall. He cannot leave the Westfall Heights, or he will be possessed by demons. He and none of the Helven can ever leave, at least not yet. The Helven will not be here to help us in the morning.” Trialani and the leadership pause to listen to Reinlith and then resume their preparations for the morning. Reinlith takes his place with the magical order and asks about Verlyle and Tornsclin. Reinlith is the first to return, so they all wait for the other two to return, hopefully with better news.

“So, Arglon, have you and Trialani decided to ask our brothers on Fargloin for help? We may have to unite Ugoria and Erkensharie in order to survive this new Dragon Feast.”

“I have talked with Trialani about this, and we are running out of time. We fear that Erkensharie may be in the same situation we are in. They may very well be fortifying and preparing just as we are for a great dragon attack. After we make a final decision here, I will talk with Trialani more about this because we are going to have to decide before morning if we ask our brothers for help. The curiosity of their situation is making me anxious. I want to know how they are doing. I have felt the loss of life among their magical ranks.”

“I have felt it too. I think we should contact them just to express our situation and find out how they are doing.”

“I agree.”

The hall they are in is huge. There is a large arching doorway with no doors, just open entrance and exits on either end of the room, and five large arches on the sidewalls. There are lit torches on the arches in between the walkways, lighting up the room. The ceiling is twenty-five feet high, and the huge table in the center of the room is empty, except for the very large map of the Ugorian Kingdom and surrounding forests. King Trialani stands at the head of the table. He has Bronsilith and Gandleleem here to lead the bowelves, and Verlyle should arrive soon. He has Willithcar, who has been not really promoted, as he is already one of Trialani’s top generals, but since Dribrillion was killed, along with the personal guard to Trialani, in the attack by Cloakenstrike and Bastrenboar, he has been temporarily named Trialani’s personal guard leader, and his top warriors are to help protect the king. This is all for naught since the king now is using all his warriors to help protect the inner kingdom. Tornsclin should also be returning soon, and he will also help lead the warrior class. For the magic-using class of elf, there are Arglon and Reinlith attending. For the horse riders, there are Vorgillith and Stromgin.

The most talked about subject of the night is do the elves try to protect the inner kingdom, or do they take to the safety of the forests and hope the dragons pass them by like they did during the last Dragon Feast. The problem is that the humans for the most part have been wiped out. The dragons may settle for the beasts and herbivores of Strabalster, but the consensus is that the dragons will hunt for elven flesh. If the elves try to protect the inner kingdom, then they will be concentrated here, and the dragon breath attacks will be very effective against them, not to mention the dragons can cast all kinds of devastating magic from the air. The elves know that if the dragons mount all their energy on the kingdom, then there is not much the elves will be able to do to stop this. The question is do the elves stake their entire fighting force to try and protect the kingdom, or do they take to the forests and force the dragons to split up and search where the elves will hopefully have to deal with only one dragon at a time? There are so many variables, so many unknowns, and the elves decide it is best to take to the forests and try to survive, sacrificing the inner kingdom. King Trialani is a remarkable magic user, and with the Snow Gold Trinket, he is very capable of defeating a dragon, but this has never been tested. He once sought power and its use, but over hundreds of years, he has grown more compassionate to his people and did all he could to make life good for his people. He took the kingship by force and did not let the power he sought get the best of him. He began to listen more and take more advice instead of leading with an iron fist. This still holds true for Trialani, but if faced by dragon or dragons, he will certainly be formidable. Trialani decides to let his leaders take the elves into the forests where they can separate form strong groups and lay ambushes for the searching dragons. This may backfire if the dragons hunt in groups or all together, but this is not normal for dragons to do. They usually hunt alone, except during the Dragon Feast when the dragons are more concerned about feeding than they are about one another.

Tornsclin enters the room with a swagger, saying the Blood Reeds will aid the elves in the morning. This is good news. He gets informed that the elves will split into well-rounded groups, containing magic users, horse riders, warriors, and bowelves, and this is pleasing to all. The elves hear the soft-sounding footprints followed by dragging claws as Verlyle enters the large hall, riding a Landganger, and the twenty bowelves are right behind him on the magnificent Landgangers. Verlyle is smiling big, saying the Langangers are with us. They all talk for an hour or so, and they all get assignments to gather all the elves and take to the woods. Arglon talks with Trialani about contacting the elves of Erkensharie, but Trialani believes the elves there have their own worries just as the Ugorian elves do. Trialani decides to focus on the plan at hand and is hopeful the elves and their allies will be too difficult to catch, and the dragons will move on to other less deadly prey. The elves disperse and gather everyone to head into the forests to wait and see what the morning brings.

CHAPTER 15
Dawn of the Third Dragon Feast

The dawn is approaching, and the elves and humans are nervously awaiting its arrival. The one race that is the least concerned about this is the Glaborian dwarves. They are still in the safety of Symbollia, and this would be by far the most dangerous place for the dragons to try and attack. The dragons would have to use their magic to transform into much smaller beings so they could traverse all the tunnels and caverns, and the smell of dwarves would be all around them. They would eventually zero in on the dwarves, but again, they would be much smaller, and the dwarves would have all the advantages. Still, of all the humanoid races, the Glaborian dwarves are the most fragile species. They are the only dwarves on all three planets, and if catastrophe were to strike them, the dwarves could be gone forever. The dwarves are aware of the Dragon Feast faintly. They have lost members of their society to the dragons, but when the dragons show themselves, most of the dwarves hide deep in the mountains, far out of the reach of the dragons. Outside of the Dagi, the dwarves give little concern to the Dragon Feast, and for now, the dwarves in Symbollia wait for the return of Glimtron and his party.

The two elven races and the surviving humans on Kronton all have something in common, well, almost. The humans with Vegenrage listened while he read the
The Valvernva Uniting
to them. The dwarves and elves with Logantrance listened while Logantrance and Oriapow read
The Rising of Vemenomous
to them. There are references in both of these books telling about the third Dragon Feast. So they are somewhat aware of the dragon attack that by the writing of Hornspire will happen soon, possibly this morning. The book that Somgla had and was stolen by Bastrenboar and Cloakenstrike was meant to be in the hands of the Ugorian king. As fate would have it, it is still in the hands of Cloakenstrike, and he has read it to Fraborn and Bastrenboar. This gives them an upper hand on the attack that is coming, so they think. The Ugorian elves have no book to read from, no written knowledge of the third Dragon Feast, but the signs are clear. The dragons have been spotted in the skies above, and this is all they need to send their hearts racing and fear to guide their instincts. They know the Dragon Feast is imminent.

Mournbow and Inglelapse have led the traveling party to the crossing at the Strait of Hercon, and the morning will be upon them quickly. They want to make it to the other side of the waterway where the forest is thick, and they can use this for shelter while they rest through the day. The wooden skiffs are wide enough for about twenty Graybazells and some people to cross at any one time. Vegenrage gets on with each group that crosses because he can use strong magic to quickly get the skiff across the Strait. Vegenrage guides the skiff back and forth very quickly, but this still takes a couple of hours. Once on the other side, they all make resting places in the trees and get some much-needed rest as morning is now upon them. Farrah lies next to Vegenrage, and they are both very tired. Farrah runs her fingers over Vegenrage’s face and his arms and chest.

“Vegenrage.” He turns to her with a smile. “You have been so quiet for a long while now. I know something is on your mind. What has you so deep in thought?”

For the past few hours as they traveled, Vegenrage has been going through his mind, extracting information from the books he absorbed in his library. He had three books written by Hornspire—
The Ilkergire Ascent
,
The Dragon Catastrophe
, and
The Probable Path
. These books have weighed heavy on him. He has been trying to do the best he can to figure how this day would unfold and how he is fitting into it. The books written by Hornspire had or have a magical signature that Vegenrage can detect. He knows there are more books, and he can sense them. He can search for them and find them, but the thing that has him so concerned is how they are all so accurately written. They all have scenarios in them that have come to pass exactly as written. Now there are scenarios that have not, but Hornspire has written in his books that things will happen this way or that way, and this really has been bothering Vegenrage. How can his books be so accurate? The thing that really bothers Vegenrage is that the books talk about him a lot, and he does not like the way he is written about. Basically, he is reading his own future. Hornspire has written so much about Vlianth who is Vegenrage saying Vlianth will do this, Vlianth will be taken here, and Vlianth destroys this dragon or this demon or even Vemenomous. He does not like that his future is known, and his natural instincts are to do the opposite to make a different outcome than has been written. The books also tell of ways that Vlianth is killed. They also talk about the girl of tainted mind who has to be Farrah and what her future shall be. Not only that, but these books were also written by and for dragons. How is it that there are books in the hands of the races of man where these books can be used against the dragons? There is no mention in any of the books saying that the races of man will ever be in possession of any of these books. How could have Hornspire missed this crucial fact? Vegenrage has thought himself to the point of agony over the past few hours with so many ways for him to proceed with this day. He has grown to love the fact that Farrah is by his side, and he does the unexpected. He turns to Farrah with a smile.

“This is going to be a very deadly day. The dragons are going to attack, and total destruction is their goal, not elimination but a three-planet devastation, leaving all the races of man in ruin. You and I have a great role to play in this day, but I have other plans for us. You are going to start to have visions, very bad visions of dragons killing and destroying lives. I can block these visions for you if you like. I can block them for a while, but if I do, they will still come to you at a later time. I will see them as well, and these visions are meant to draw us into battle. I know, at least I believe, we are safe here. The people with us will make it to other surviving humans throughout Elbutan, and I said I would see them safely there. I plan to keep my word to these people, and we should be there by tomorrow. All of Hornspire’s writings end on this day, and I hate that a dragon nearly two millennium ago could write about me who is not even from any of these worlds like he knew what I was going to do. Well, I say you and I get some much-needed sleep. There is going to be all kinds of calls for our help today, and there is too much for either of us to contend with. I can block all the visions, all the calls for help, and we can sleep. When we wake, you have to be prepared because there will be a storm of visions in your head, and I will be here to help you through them. We will have to do our best to ignore all the cries for much-needed help, and we have to see the people here to safety throughout the Krinston realm.”

“I am so tired, Vegenrage. If you can let us have peaceful sleep, even if for only today, please do.”

Farrah lies next to Vegenrage so comfortable. She is so tired that she just relaxes and falls asleep next to Vegenrage. Vegenrage watches her as she falls to sleep and creates a barrier of magical resistance around them. This will block all telepathy and all the magical visions that will surely be coming their way, and he does this just in time as the barrier erected blocks, the first visions already heading for them. Vegenrage is so tired too, but he can’t sleep. He keeps thinking about what will happen today. He keeps trying to see the scenario that will play out if he and Farrah avoid the destruction and do not respond to any of the calls for help that he knows are coming. How many of his friends will be lost today? How many beautiful buildings and structures that he has seen here in the Maglical System will be lost forever today? How can all this be put on him? How can he be brought from another planet in a different solar system with so much riding on his every action? What can he do to make everything all right? He fights his mind for hours, trying to shut it up, and finally, he falls asleep next to Farrah.

The dawn has come, and Blethstole and Dribrillianth have made their way back to Mirrimya, while all the other dragons have gone to begin the Dragon Feast.

“Well, Blethstole, it begins. Today, the races of man will suffer greatly, but I fear that the dragons may suffer worse.”

“Time will tell, Dribrillianth. Time will tell. For now, we wait. Vlianth, Cormygle, or Vemenomous will show soon, and we descend on them. If the dragons are to die out, then I for one will go fighting.”

“
I am with you, Blethstole. Together, with all our brothers, we will take back the Maglical System like the days of old.”

The sun rises over Ugoria, and Kertinkpice lands on top of the Ugorian Palace. He extends his wings wide and shows off his beautiful pink color with red razor lines running down his body. We have not seen this yet, but Kertinkpice has twelve fans that lay flush to his neck, and he extends them to their full width of four feet above his neck. The scales on his neck are still intact underneath his fans that just lay flush over them. These fans are a great defensive weapon that he has. Should anything try to bite the neck of Kertinkpice, he can extend these fans, and the opponent trying to bite him will get a painful surprise. If another dragon, for example, were to try and bite the neck of Kertinkpice, the fans would literally slice right through the teeth, jaw, and bone of the dragon trying to bite him. That’s how sharp and strong the fans are. We still have not seen Kertinkpice’s breath attack until now and what a magnificent attack this is. Kertinkpice stands in the center of the palace roof and lets loose his Breath of Pinplosion. He breathes a massive cloud of pink gas and mist in a half circle as he slowly steps in a circle. He inhales and breathes another massive cloud, finishing the circle, and the gaseous mist hovers motionless where he breathes it. He then flies up through the center of the cloud, about thirty feet above the mist, and yells, “Grrraaasssiiiooouuussss!” Thousands and thousands of tiny pink pins shoot down from the cloud and explode on contact with the roof of the palace. Each pin makes a small explosion, not extremely powerful but enough to blast about a six-inch hole in the roof. The amazing power behind this breath attack is that there have just been thousands of explosions, and that’s not all. They are followed by another wave and another and then another and another, and this goes on until the cloud has been drained, and there is very little taken from the cloud with each new attack. Kertinkpice flies around the palace, waiting for the elves to run away as the palace is being destroyed by a constant bombardment of thousands and thousands of explosions. There are splinters flying all over and loud cracks like fireworks as thousands of explosions are always happening. If there are any elves in the palace, they will be blown to bits. Kertinkpice flies around, waiting for his prey, so he can swoop in and make a meal out of them. This one cloud that Kertinkpice has made has almost destroyed the entire palace. He makes a few more clouds to finish the job and yells the magic word to start the barrage of explosions from his devastating breath attack. Kertinkpice, with very little effort, has just destroyed nearly three thousand years of history. He is very surprised to see that no elves were here, and if they were, they are dead now. Kertinkpice does not float to the ground. He stays high in the air where he is safest from the sneaky elves and their unknown attacks. “Hmm. The elves have taken to the forest.” Kertinkpice can sense that his dragon brothers are all converging on Ugoria.

Bailseize is flying in from the east over Hunoria, and over the Ugorian Forest, he is followed by Limbrone, Barquoke, and Browgage. The Chestwerns are racing from the east, and they move very fast, running and then gliding through the air. They have made it through Hunoria very fast and are entering the Ugorian Forest.

Pryenthious is making his way south from the Swapoon Mountains, and he is followed by a mass of Mountain Flats, darkening the sky. The Mountain Flats easily follow behind Pryenthious with their wide wingspans of six feet and rarely have to flap their wings as they are excellent gliders. They are making their way over the Ugorian Highlands and will be over the Ugorian Forest very soon.

Flaren, Icerock, and Nawlewn are making their way north from the Mogle Lands. They are flying over the Westfall Heights and over the Ugorian Forest.

Kertinkpice is led eastward by his keen nose and comes in contact with Bailseize and the three smaller dragons, about sixty miles south of Gosebek Lake. Here, the dragons converge and take action.

“Bailseize, the elves have all taken to the forest. I have destroyed the living quarters in the Ugorian Kingdom. It is no more, and there were no elves there. There are surely none there now. I can smell that they are here, beneath us, in the forest.”

“Yes, I smell them too. It smells like they have company. More for us to feast on.” Bailseize talks for all the dragons to hear. “We take no chances with these elves. Let us clear a path from here to the forest edge at Hunoria so the Chestwerns have a clear path to enter and begin the assault.”

The dragons fly to the east in a long line, and they devastate the forest, clearing the trees in a storm of massive and destructive breath attacks. They fly due east toward the outskirts of Hunoria where the Chestwerns will be entering the forest. To the far north of the dragon line is Pryenthious, and his Breath of Halgespace is not what he is looking for in this instance. Instead, he breathes a massive stream of fire from his lungs, which he is easily magically capable of. His fire is serious, and the smoldering, burning forest left in his wake sends all the forest animals running, trying to escape the inferno blazing from Pryenthious’s fire. The smoke from this is just as deadly as the fire subduing any living being in the area sending them in retreat for breathable air.

About a mile south of Pryenthious is Kertinkpice, and his Breath of Pinplosion is perfect for clearing a path through the forest and killing anything in its path. He breathes his thick cloud of pink mist and says the magical word, and thousands and thousands of tiny explosions begin to pelt and destroy the forest and everything in it. As he flies and breathes more and more and says the magical word a couple more times, the explosions are beyond count, and the forest is left exploding and falling behind him as he moves eastward.