Zoran Chronicles Volume 1 A Dragon in Our Town (17 page)

            
“Come, it is in the basement. We can still get there, but much of the fortress is
already overrun. There is so little time and I am needed here to coordinate our last lines
of defense and our retribution. Jiri, take them there. Let me know when you are leaving,
that I may find peace at last, knowing that our discovery is safe! May God be with you
all, thank you.”

            
“This way,” Brother Jiri called out. They rushed down a very long stairs. The
command post, where Mikolas was standing viewing and coordinating the last defense,
was seven stories above the basement, where the remodeling had uncovered the
precious cache. Down they descended, sounds of steel upon steel echoed loudly as they
passed exits to the various floors. Soldiers were fighting inside the fortress rooms. So
little time.

            
At last they entered the hidden room. Zoran and his friends surveyed what had to
be done. “We need at least a half hour to safely pack everything,” he voiced his best
guess.

            
Jarka concurred, “At least a half hour. Can Mikolas hold out that long?”

            
Zoran made telepathic contact with Mikolas and asked him. “No way gang; the
first floor has been lost; they are now climbing the stairs upwards. Any moment they
might head down here. We have minutes at most. Ideas? Suggestions?”

            
Emil volunteered, “What if dragons appeared and began attacking? Would that
slow them down?”

            
“Wow! You bet it would! Can you do this, Emil?” Zoran asked.

            
“Yes, as long as they don’t need this stairs any longer. We can fit through it, but
will likely bring part of the ceiling down as we wiggle through.”

            
“Okay, when we are ready to teleport out of here, we will let you know. You can
then teleport back in here and join us. Okay?”

            
“Fine. Renata, it’s time to show these humans what a dragon can do!”

            
“Well, teen dragons, Emil. Remember, we are not fully grown yet,” she teased her
brother. “You all stand way back. It will be a tight fit until we wiggle up the stairs.”

            
Jarka squeezed herself into the farthest corner of the room! The others flattened
themselves against the back wall. All watched in utter fascination as the golden hued
Emil morphed back into his normal body, a forty foot long, golden dragon. Emil stood
twenty feet tall; his claws would indeed skewer a man easily. With great effort and
crumbling stonework, Emil squeezed himself back up the stairs to the first floor, now
controlled by the Baron’s Shock Troops. As Emil came out into a large room with
soldiers running in many directions, he let out his loudest howl and belched forth a cone
of broiling flames, frying a dozen men dead in their tracks. He destroyed two more
groups before moving on out of the door way and took flight. Renata was right behind
him.

            
The shock, total surprise, and utter awe completely stopped the entire siege of the
fortress. Flying side by side, the twins swooped over concentrations of troops, blasting
them with their giant cones of superheated flames. For variety, they occasionally let lose
a powerful bolt of electrical energy at some of the fleeing soldiers. Mass pandemonium
broke out, as the Baron’s soldiers ran from the fortress, fearing for their lives. Many
never made it to safety. Again and again the twins circled the mountain fortress, burning
or electrocuting the baron’s men. They didn’t have to worry about accidentally getting
Mikolas’ men. Those that still lived were on the upper floors of the fortress.

            
On the top floor, Mikolas gathered the last of his men with him, only fifty
remained. “My god! Dragons! Oh, if they could have only come sooner!” exclaimed
Mikolas.

            
“It’s a miracle! Real dragons! They are real! Look at the revenge we are having.
How sweet this is!” one wounded fighter yelled. “Go get them! Kill them all!” he yelled to
the dragons, who couldn’t actually hear him. They were too far away.

            
“Men, loyal, free men, while we have only a few minutes of life within us, God has
shown us a miracle. The dragons have returned, and they are on our side! Behold
miracle of all miracles!” Mikolas called out to his men. Somehow, though he had no idea
how, he had been able to give his men a dying miracle. Perhaps some of his fleeing
people, now high in the mountains, would also see these magnificent golden beasts
coming to fight for the people of Sholov Province. He hoped that some did and would
spread the word far and wide. A new day was beginning, though he knew he would not
live to see it. Merely seeing the dragons and their wrath was comfort to Mikolas. His
long struggle was not in vain.

            
His last remaining aide called out, “Boss, the last of our people has reached Bazir
Pass. It is time.” A half hour had now passed, and the dragons vanished as suddenly as
they had appeared, leaving behind masses of smoldering men. Over a thousand soldiers
were dead or badly injured. Flames continued to burn around the outer areas of the
fortress.

            
Mikolas touched a burning torch to one pile of black powder and then to its
companion. “Here you go, Baron Kazimir. I hope you like it,” Mikolas spat on the floor.
The flashing, sputtering of the gunpowder disappeared from the room, following the
long ago carved channels cut into the stone for this very purpose. One ran up the
mountain towards Bazir Pass, while the other ran on downhill to the tall pine forests
that surrounded this end of the valley and fortress.

            
With the dragons now gone, the Baron’s forces regrouped and once more charged
the fortress. As they reached the top floor where Mikolas and the last of his fighters
prepared to battle to the end, an explosion shook the fortress. High up by Bazir Pass, an
explosion brought tons of granite cascading down, totally blocking the pass. No one, no
army could follow the retreating folks, who once called Sholov Province their home. The
adjoining Orlovia Province was safe from the Baron’s army for now. He’d have to find
another way to attack that warlord.

            
To the south, the pine forest with its centuries of dried pine needles erupted into
flames. Indeed, the entire southern edge of the forest was soon ablaze. Mikolas was
burning down the whole forest. There was no way out of this valley. Baron Kazimir
would have to wait for days for the fires to burn out, leaving him nothing but an
abandoned wasteland. Some prize to hold up, Mikolas sneered, and swung his sword at
the oncoming soldier.

            
Meanwhile, in the basement, Zoran and the others began packing the priceless
artifacts for transport. Complicating matters were two things. Beyond the documents,
the partially constructed Circle of Ascension had to be dismantled and packed. Also, and
much to Jarka’s delight, Mikolas was donating his entire treasury to them to help build
this new Circle of Ascension. Five hundred thousand in gems and jewelry had to be
packed as well. They were forced to leave behind the gold, however. It was too heavy to
get on such short notice. However, there was not much of it; most had been converted
into gems. Perhaps Mikolas had foreseen this day and had prepared.

            
A half hour later, they were finally ready to go. Zoran telepathically let Emil and
Renata know that they were ready for them to join them in the basement. A minute
later, the two reappeared, quite out of breath from their exertions. “I’m so hungry I
could eat two hoofers!” Emil exclaimed rather excited about his adventures.

            
“Please, don’t eat us,” Jarka begged, worried that starving dragons might just let
their stomachs dictate their actions.

            
“Relax, Jarka, we don’t eat humans. You taste really bad,” Emil replied honestly.

            
“Really you do. Dad says humans taste more like dragon dung. Who would want
to eat that?” Renata added to her brother’s explanation. Jarka visibly relaxed, very glad
to hear that!

            
“Come on; we got to get out of here now. Grab as many bags as you can safely
carry. Teleport to our meeting room in the tower. I will bring these two with me,” Zoran
ordered. He waited until the others had all gone and made sure that no bags were left.
Then, Zoran took Jiri and Anezka’s hands and cast his teleport spell. Nothing but a few
hundred gold coins remained in the room, and nothing that would indicate the precious
documents of Bandar Zar had ever been here.

            
“You all smell like a battle,” Archmage Nadia said softly, after they all arrived in
her meeting room on the first floor. “I take it that you were successful?”

            
“Close, but with the timely help of two gold dragons, who bought us the time we
needed, yes, Archmage, we have returned with the whole lot. We left nothing behind, not
a trace of this discovery will be found. It remains a secret to the Baron and the Houses,”
Zoran reported.

            
“Good, good. No one is hurt?” she inquired.

            
“We are starving,” Emil blurted out. “All that flying and belching flames has
worked us up quite an appetite.”

            
Everyone chuckled. “Okay, why don’t you two take off and find some hoofers. Get
back as soon as it is feasible,” she suggested.

            
“Okay, but we want to know what goes on next,” Renata said, torn by her
curiosity and her hunger. Hunger won out. The two teleported away.

            
“Let’s put the sacks into the study in the next room. Then, how about baths for all
of you? I don’t want the stench of battle smelling up my tower. Marek will show you two
to your room and the bath.” Quickly the five headed to wash up and change. Zoran noted
that this would also give the twins time to get back. They wouldn’t miss anything, he
hoped.

            
An hour later, everyone gathered back in the main entrance room. Quickly, Zoran
recounted what they had done, though he deferred to Emil to relate what the dragons
had done. Next, Jiri explained what had led up to this and what had very likely occurred
after they left. “You see, Mikolas didn’t want all of his people in Sholov Province to
become slaves of the Baron. Over these past many months, he had all those that wished
to move quietly head up the Bazir Pass and down into Orlovia Province. He had
assurances from the warlord there that his people would be welcomed and allowed to
migrate elsewhere or settle in his province. What warlord would not desire a doubling of
their population?”

            
“The last of them were near the pass when you all arrived. Once the last one had
cleared the pass, Mikolas intended to blow up the pass, bringing tons of the surrounding
granite mountainside down on the pass, effectively blocking passage into Orlovia
Province from Sholov Province. That was the bargain he struck with the warlord there.
Now the Baron will have to find an alternative route to assault Orlovia.”

            
“Simultaneously, Mikolas was to set fire to the entire southern line of the pine
forest just south of the fortress. The Baron will find that he is now the proud owner of a
wasteland, devoid of nearly all its inhabitants, crops, and commerce. He wins a partially
destroyed stone fortress and a hundred gold pieces that we left behind. I hope the Baron
chokes on this.” Many chuckled as they heard just what the Baron got for his slaughter
of so many men.

            
“What Mikolas and we were trying to do is to create another Circle of Ascension
and thus a new rival House, complete with its own baron to rival Baron Kazimir. Once
we had the Circle, we are certain of gaining the respect of all the other Houses, which
Mikolas hoped would put an end to the Baron’s constant conquering of lands
surrounding his own. That was the plan. In the end, when we realized this was not to be,
Mikolas converted all of his treasury into gems and jewels for easy transport and has
donated it to Anezka and me to fund the construction of the Circle of Ascension
elsewhere on Adapazan.”

            
“If your people would like us to remunerate them for their timely rescue of us and
the partially constructed Circle, we would be more than willing to pay. Just tell us,” Jiri
continued.

            
“No payment needed. Just glad we could help,” Zoran spoke up before anyone
else could. No way was he going to accept any monetary gain. Having the chance to stop
or delay or create serious problems for the Baron was vastly more important, as was
saving these precious documents. He knew that Jarka would ask for something and this
took the opportunity away from her.