Vegenrage: Dragon Reclaim (29 page)

Oriapow returns to King Ellith and shows all the head of Rippencore. Ellith is so impressed with Oriapow’s accomplishment that he names Oriapow the father of modern Erkensharie magic. Then he allows Oriapow and those that wish to travel with him to hunt down dragons. The dwarves of Glaboria have made their way to Erkensharie, and Oriapow is there to share in this historic visit and union. The dwarves have brought a very special gift for the elves, the Octagemerwell, and they trade this with the elves, along with very precious metal, in exchange for magical knowledge. The dwarves have brought three individuals with them that King Ingrabel is very proud of. Swoobibel, Trimbel, and Carndeial have all shown magical potential in the Glaborian Mountains, and King Ingrabel wishes for them to study with the elves and, if possible, learn magic. King Ellith is very interested in this new metal presented by the dwarves. The magical order is very quickly interested in the Octagemerwell, and Ellith lets them take it for study in the Mystical Erkens.

“This is Foarsbleem, and with it, you can craft new stronger and sharper weapons. We have used it for a long time to ward off the dragons. The dragons have changed their form and entered our mountain homes, and with the Foarsbleem spears and arrows, we have caused them deadly wounds and drove them out of our mountain home many times. We have crafted a very special weapon for you, King Ellith. This weapon is meant not as a weapon for use but as a symbol to show the dwarven commitment to unite ties with the Erkensharie elves.”

King Ellith draws the odd-looking sword from its scabbard and looks at it. “Ingrabel, does this sword have a name?”

“Yes, Ellith, it is called the Wristslicer sword.”

“I can see this is a new metal, and I would very much like to have my craftsmen work with this metal and see how it forms into new weapons. I will allow your three magic-using dwarves to study with us and learn the art of magic. I think I know someone who will find this sword most interesting to train with.”

This is the uniting of the dwarves and the elves and has grown into the prosperous partnership between these two races that still thrives a thousand years later. King Ellith is in a very gracious mood and proposes the uniting of the dwarves and elves and even allows Oriapow to seek out Persen and unite the humans with them as well. Oriapow is very concerned that Persen has not made his way to Erkensharie yet and asks if anyone has seen the violet dragon that has apparently escaped the staff that Persen has captured him in. No one has, and after a long while of meeting with the dwarves and sharing in stories of both races, Oriapow excuses himself to return to those waiting for him. The dwarves and elves here are more than impressed to see the head of Rippencore that Oriapow has brought back, and he has gained a lot of support. All wish him well in his quest to find Persen and hunt down dragons. Oriapow says his farewells and heads back to meet with the others.

Oriapow returns to the lair of Rippencore to see everyone has gone through the treasure and found things that they like. There are a lot of weapons, armor, and gold and jewels. Cloakenstrike is in a back corner of the cave and reading a book. Oriapow approaches him.

“What do you have here, Cloakenstrike? A book?”

“Yes, this book was much larger than it is now. I was able to reduce its size magically, so it is more manageable for us to read. Look, it is written by the claw of a dragon. It seems to be a book on prophecy.”

“Prophecy. Dragons are writing prophecy? You can read the writing of dragons?”

“Yes, I can, can you?”

“Actually, I can. May I take a look?”

“Sure, I have just skimmed through it a little. I read mostly at the end of the book, and it talks about some form of new dragon that rises from a human called Vlianth. I believe it to be the next Dragon Feast that will happen a thousand years from now.”

“A new form of dragon? Let me look at it.”

Oriapow begins to read the book, and Cloakenstrike stands to stretch his arms and legs. The men at the entrance notice loud thuds at the entrance, and a strong breeze flows in from outside. They look at one another, concerned, which grows very serious, as Vergraughtu walks into the cave very quickly and snags one of the men in his mouth, crushing him to death. Everyone draws sword and bow and begins to attack Vergraughtu, but he is healthy, big, and strong. The sword slashes and arrows have little effect on him, if any at all. Vergraughtu catches another man and two elves under his feet. Cloakenstrike says some words and shoots superhot flames from his hands right at the head of Vergraughtu. Vergraughtu releases his Breath of Venom, and the spell and breath attack meet, evaporating into harmless mist. Cremsblyle is dexterous and fast running up to Vergraughtu with a stinging slash to the throat of the dragon, causing a nasty wound to his neck, and Oriapow follows it with magical darts, ripping flesh and scale from his neck. Vergraughtu casts a propulsion spell from his mouth, throwing everyone and everything in the cave against the walls. Cloakenstrike vanishes just in time to avoid the spell and appears behind the dragon. He catches the dragon by its tail with a magical rope and drags it out of the cave. Vergraughtu cannot believe this. He claws and grabs at the ground as he is pulled out of the cave. Oriapow teleports the elves and men in the cave to a safe location and tells them to wait there for him and, if he does not show up soon, to head for safety in Erkensharie. Oriapow then teleports himself with the book in his hands to see Cloakenstrike facing down Vergraughtu. Oriapow yells to Cloakenstrike to get away, as the dragon is too powerful for them right now, and he hits it in its back side with a barrage of magic missiles, sending scale, blood, and flesh into the air. The dragon turns to face Oriapow, releasing his breath attack, and Oriapow disappears just in time to avoid the breath attack. Cloakenstrike shoots Blades of Sharpness into the wounds on the back of Vergraughtu, and Vergraughtu turns, flapping his right wing at Cloakenstrike, hitting him with a spell of force, sending him flying into the forest. The spells have taken a lot of flesh from Vergraughtu, and he flies off to heal himself. Cloakenstrike lands hard, hitting trees and falling hard to the ground. He stands, a little dazed, and watches as the dragon flies off into the night sky. “Oriapow, Oriapow, where have you gone? You deserted me, and you stole the book. I will get you, Oriapow.”

CHAPTER 23
Vergraughtu Seeks Out Hornspire

Vergraughtu flies into the night sky, and it is Blethstole he is after. Blethstole has stolen or, so Hornspire thinks, borrowed some books from him. Hornspire has written many books now on the prophecies of Vlianth and Vlanthis that are to come true in the third Dragon Feast. The problem that Hornspire has is that his visions are real and true. He believes them and writes them down, thinking all the dragons will read his writings and believe like Hornspire does.

Hornspire was born two hundred years before the first Dragon Feast and started having his visions just as the first Dragon Feast had begun. Hornspire was much too young and small to take part in the first Dragon Feast, but he was already having visions of what was going to happen. He saw how the dragons ate the races of man, and in the first Dragon Feast, mostly, the human race was targeted and eaten. They were the easiest prey and sufficient in numbers, but Altrar was decimated. Almost all the dragons feasted here, and all the magic-using men were killed. They never had a chance and never were allowed enough time to become the great magic-using men they were meant to be. Altrar never recovered, and their race died out completely at the second Dragon Feast. Hiltor fared a little better than Altrar and may have even survived the second Dragon Feast, but the land did not cooperate, and the loss of the forest lead to the easy destruction of Hiltor in the second Dragon Feast.

Hornspire saw all of this before the second Dragon Feast, and he began to write it all down. He thought the dragons would hold him in high esteem, making him a very special dragon, but the dragons did not. They called him crazy and said he was mad. Hornspire did not write down his visions to what he saw during the first Dragon Feast, but as events started to happen the way he saw them happen, this is when he started writing things down about the third Dragon Feast. He wrote all kinds of things down, things not really very important, but when he started having visions of Vlianth and the female and Vemenomous, he began to write a lot. He wrote
The Wattsverocy: The Coming of Vlianth
,
The Ugorian Stand
,
The Dragon Catastrophe
,
The Ilkergire Ascent
,
The Passing
,
The Probable Path
,
The Rising of Vemenomous
, and
The Valvernva Uniting
. He tried to share these writings with dragons. He tried telling them there would be great reprisals from the humans, and there was a very powerful human coming to the Maglical System, and Hornspire could see him. He could also see a great new species of dragon that was killing all the dragons. Hornspire could not see how this new dragon and how this new human came to be, and he did not know the name of the female, but he could see lots of events happening, and he tried to tell Vergraughtu, Blethstole, Rippencore, Bailseize, and Pryenthious. For the most part, the dragons ignored Hornspire and paid him no attention, but Blethstole and Vergraughtu stole some of the books Hornspire was sharing and did not give them back. Hornspire could only find comfort with Gwithen who fell in love with his writings and stories. She saw greatness in Hornspire and gave birth to dragons that never knew Hornspire was their father. Gwithen was given the book
The Passing
, and she held on to it ever since he gave it to her. Hornspire could see the humans that put her to sleep and told her about it. He told her if she were to let the humans put her to sleep, this would be a good thing because it would prevent her and Blethstole from being hunted by the races of man. She would sleep until Vlianth would come and release her from her sleep, and she and Blethstole would be reunited. This would also lead to the friendship between Vlianth and Gwithen. If this friendship is not to happen, then the dragons are doomed to be killed by Vemenomous. Technically, Vergraughtu is the dominant dragon right now, but this is a difficult time for the dragons. Blethstole and Rippencore have the size and strength to take on Vergraughtu, but the time for fighting just has not come yet, but it may soon. Hornspire knows Gwithen is very much in love with Blethstole. Even though she has children with Hornspire and with Vergraughtu, she keeps her very special love with Hornspire secret. Her love for Blethstole is much more outspoken, and the only way to keep Blethstole from Gwithen when he wants her attention is by fighting, and this is something Hornspire does not want. Gwithen was sneaky, mating with Vergraughtu before there was a dragon fight between Vergraughtu and Blethstole, and Hornspire stayed far away from this possible confrontation.

Hornspire spends a lot of his time secretly with Gwithen, telling her all about the future as he sees it. He also tries to tell Blethstole and the other larger dragons about the future as he sees it. Most of the books are borrowed by the other dragons but not returned, and Blethstole especially is really taking a disliking to Hornspire. He suspects he is seeing Gwithen and telling her about his visions, and this just adds to his dislike for the prophecy-writing dragon. Blethstole is very unsure about the writings of Hornspire but has read them and is immediately thinking about how to manipulate his writing to benefit himself. Vergraughtu has much the same kind of manipulative thoughts, but Vergraughtu takes action, already seeing himself as the new form of dragon. Hornspire has basically been trying to warn the dragons of the future and has given his books out to Blethstole, Pryenthious, Bailseize, and Vergraughtu, but the only dragon to take the writings seriously is Vergraughtu. The other dragons blow off the writings, giving them little attention, but Vergraughtu sees great value in these books and actively seeks out the books and collects them. He then manipulates the writings in the books, changing them, and passes them on to very specific humans and elves. He is setting up the races of man to read the books and plan according to the future that Vergraughtu has scripted from Hornspire’s writings.

The books written by Hornspire give the dominant dragons a reason to talk and avoid the usual fighting they are accustomed to. Most dragons pay the writings of Hornspire no attention because they are so far off in the future, but Blethstole and Vergraughtu see an opportunity to forge their own future here. Blethstole is thinking about how to manipulate the writings, but it is Vergraughtu who approaches Blethstole after he has been rebirthed by the Staff of Barrier Breath and after he knows that yes, for sure, the human Persen did capture his essence and life force in the staff, so the prophecies are for real. He now knows that the writings of Hornspire are for real, and so does Blethstole, but Vergraughtu has already started planning, and even Blethstole is a part of his manipulations. These two do not want the other dragons to ever realize the writings are for real, and they plan to catch Hornspire. They plan to disperse the books to very targeted humans and elves with the writings manipulated by them. This way, they will know what the races of man will be doing during the third Dragon Feast, and they are already planning to capture the Vlianth and steal his ability to cast magic without speaking and destroy him before he is ever a threat. Vergraughtu daringly approaches Blethstole’s lair and lands on the wide ledge outside of the entrance to Blethstole’s lair. He has healed himself first from his run-in with Cloakenstrike. The moon is full, the night crisp and cool with a steady quiet wind. The clouds are floating through the moonlight sky, and it is a beautiful scene as a light rain starts to fall. This is a very dangerous thing for Vergraughtu to be doing. To be this close to the lair of a potentially dominant dragon almost always invites a fight. Vergraughtu, of course, is afraid of no dragon but better be careful in this situation, and he is. Vergraughtu, immediately upon landing here, uses telepathy.

“Blethstole, it is I. It is Vergraughtu. I have come to seek your help. I have come to unite myself with you. I have come asking for your help. I bow hoping you accept my acknowledgment to your dominance.” Vergraughtu bows his head in submission. Not even Blethstole would take advantage of this very interesting sight he sees as he exits his lair to see Vergraughtu bowing to him. Curiosity and questions get the best of Blethstole.

“What is this? Why do you bow to me, Vergraughtu?”

“You have something I want, and I have something you want. We need each other to see the dragons through the next Dragon Feast. We need each other to see that the new superior dragon is one of us and not some other dragon like Hornspire.”

“Hornspire. He is no match for me, and what is it that you have that I want?”

“With me out of the way, you can become the dominant dragon. You have Persen in your possession. You must release him long enough to put me back in the staff. Then you can place the staff anywhere you like so that we can set up the next Dragon Feast to follow our path and not the path of Hornspire. I think we should capture Hornspire and keep him alive just in case we need him. After all, he has written the prophecies, and they have come true already. It might be a good thing to have him alive in case we need him.”

“How do you propose we capture him?”

“I will draw him to your lair. I will tell him you and I see that his prophecy is real and that we believe. I will bow to him and bring him here. Once here, we will capture him in a Stone Tomb and bury him under all your treasure. Here, he will be hidden, and your treasure will conceal his presence.”

“Don’t you think he will see this and know our plan?”

“Well, there is one way to find out.”

“That Hornspire, dead or entombed, either way, he is out of the way. Go get him and bring him here. We will hide him under my treasure forever unless we should need him.”

“Be prepared. I will bring him back here, telling him you and I are interested in talking to him about his prophecies. Then we will capture him.” Vergraughtu heads off to bring back Hornspire.

Hornspire is aware of the plot of Blethstole and Vergraughtu to capture him. As a matter of fact, he heads out into the open and makes it look like he is hunting when Vergraughtu finds him. Vergraughtu finds him in the forest around the Sarfuse Valley and tells him that he and Blethstole wish to talk to him about his writings and that they want to prepare for the prophecies that Hornspire has written. Hornspire happily accepts and goes with him.

Back in the lair of Blethstole, the three dragons meet. Blethstole has moved all of his treasure away from the middle of his lair. The treasure is now lined up around the walls of his lair, and his booty is impressive. The three dragons meet in the center of his lair that has been cleared. “Hornspire, you have been seeing visions of the future, but you see many different visions, many different ways, the future may or may not happen. Why should we listen to you and take these writings you have made as real? Like they are going to happen?”

“Blethstole, Vergraughtu, I have had visions all my life, and not even I was sure what to make of them, but after this past Dragon Feast, the visions I have had started to come to pass. I believe that my visions will come to pass because they already have, and for the visions I have far off in the future, well, they will come to pass as well. The only thing that may change my visions is the fact that I have written about them, and that means certain individuals may do things on purpose to change the visions from happening the way I see them. I have written alternate versions of how the future may play out because of changes dragons or races of man may make in the future. I believe we have to take my writings and hold on to them to prevent Vlianth or Vemenomous from destroying the dragons as the dominant race of the Maglical System a thousand years from now. My writings can help us do what we need to do to defeat Vlianth and his female, also the dragon beast I see called Vemenomous.”

“You have written about these three, but you do not tell us where they come from, or how they get here. If we had this information, then we could prevent them from ever being.”

“Yes, I know, Blethstole, but unfortunately, I do not see everything. I do not know this yet. I do know they will exist, and if we do not prepare for them, they will destroy the dragons altogether.”

“Bow to me, Hornspire. Show your loyalty to me, along with Vergraughtu, and we will unite the dragons. The dragons will unite for the third Dragon Feast. We will all hunt the humans and this Vemenomous together, and your words shall lead our way. Bow to me, Hornspire, and I will unite all the dragons to listen to your word.”

Hornspire bows, fully aware of what Blethstole and Vergraughtu are about to do. Once Hornspire bows, both dragons cast in unison the Stone Tomb spell. “Ssuurree clossee Iimmber caassttee!” Both dragons say this together, and Hornspire starts to harden, his skin turns to rock, and very quickly, he is frozen, entombed in a stone prison, until he is freed by an outside force. Hornspire has already seen this but never told anyone about this vision, not even Gwithen. Hornspire already knows the one who helps put Gwithen to sleep for the next thousand years will be there to help release him from his Stone Tomb in the future. He also knows this same man is the one to bring Vlianth to the Maglical System, but he has never told anyone this. Hornspire has his own thoughts on how to handle the future. The only thing that he cannot control is the fact that he can see his own end, but he cannot tell when it happens. This is the one vision that Hornspire cannot escape—the bright light.

“Okay, Blethstole, we have done it. We have captured Hornspire. Now it is time for you to be rid of me as well. Bring Persen back so he can put me back in the staff.” Blethstole is much more concerned about getting his treasure back in place over the statue of the entombed Hornspire. Vergraughtu helps him get all his treasure back in place, and this is something Blethstole likes very much. His bed of treasure, even though still the same, looks much larger than it did before. Blethstole gets on top of his bed and can feel his strength has grown. Dragons actually draw strength from the gold and treasure they sleep on. Now with Hornspire being entombed under his bed, well, this gives Blethstole much added strength from his treasure to draw from.