Dragon Alliance Dark Storm : Dark Storm Read online

  Dragon Alliance:

  Dark Storm

  J. Michael Flück

  Copyright © 2013 by J. Michael Flück.

  Library of Congress Control Number:

  2013910636

  ISBN:

  Hardcover

  978-1-4836-5412-6

  Softcover

  978-1-4836-5411-9

  Ebook

  978-1-4836-5413-3

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Rev. date: 06/12/2013

  To order additional copies of this book, contact:

  Xlibris Corporation

  1-888-795-4274

  www.Xlibris.com

  [email protected]

  106156

  CONTENTS

  Prologue

  Chapter I:Dragon Council

  Chapter II:Honors Day Games

  Chapter III:Dragon Race

  Chapter IV:Senate Gathering

  Chapter V:Ripple Before The Storm

  Chapter VI:Fire’s March

  Chapter VII:Extinguishing Dark Flame

  Chapter VIII:Silent Daggers, Retribution, And Provocation

  Chapter IX:Dark Storm

  Chapter X:Birth Of Light

  Prologue

  It has been said that God created the heavens and the earth in seven days. Given the billions of stars and planets in the universe, this amazing planet, with its beauty and intricacy, cannot be the only such creation. On that premise, who is to say that the almighty Creator did not have other experiments—other worlds with slightly different variables in the mix but centered on the same central theme: mankind’s gift of life and the freedom of choice to do good or evil? According to Scriptures, the angels in heaven fought a brutal war over this principle, resulting in the fall of Lucifer. But what if this conflict was brought to the material world and the angels and demons took the form of various species of dragons and other assorted creatures that fought each other for the power to guide the human race? This story also attests the theory of God’s constant counterbalance of the dark side of our choices with the infinite good we can also serve. All of this action and counteraction to prod us on our way slowly toward the shining city on the hill is the ultimate chess game with a move to correct every wrong decision made.

  On this world, this parallel earth, after the Creator directed the arch dragon Michenth to lead the dragons in blood bonding with humankind to help guide and protect them, the dragon queen, Tiamat, led a rebellion against her mate and thus the first Great Dragon War initiated. The five species of metallic dragons stood with Michenth, and with the enhanced power they derived from being bonded to their riders, along with the dragonstones they gave their riders to empower various weapons and magic wizards’ staffs; they defeated Tiamat and the chromatic dragons. She and her minions were banished to the lands far in the east.

  Two thousand years then passed as the dragons and riders settled into their mountain fortresses, or weirs, of the western lands, and protected each of their thirteen provinces.

  Jealous and hateful of the metallic dragons and their bonding with the inferior species of man, Tiamat and her chromatic dragons formed the Morgathian Empire, a magitocracy, ruled by her, her five of the strongest chromatic dragons of each of the five species and a group of powerful sorcerers known as the Talon Covenant. Once she had gathered enough dragons, she led them and a vast army across the unsettled lands to attack the metallics and their riders and those that they protected. This was to end the Creator’s mistake of bestowing the lesser species of man the gift of freedom and free will, and not under the rule of the dragons, specifically the chromatic dragons.

  An astute and selfless group of men and women, to be known as the Founding Council had drawn together all thirteen of the provinces of the west under a binding document, known as the Articles of the Alliance. Thus the Dragon Alliance Republic was formed by the race of men, with the guidance and blessing of Michenth and the metallic dragons. The Alliance, a free nation, which would now serve as a beacon of light and hope of freedom in a time of impending darkness. The elf and dwarf kingdoms, which had protected the forests and mountains joined forces with the Alliance. They then all faced the onslaught of the Morgathian Empire and Tiamat in the plains of the unsettled lands at the culminating battle of the second Great Dragon War.

  During this titanic fight, Michenth defeated Tiamat in a horrific contest. The arch dragon was then severely wounded and was only saved by the gold dragon Gallanth and his rider, Jmes, of Draden Weir. However, Gallanth’s rider was also killed by a treacherous act of a dark elf or drow. The powerful gold dragon launched a lone assault against the Morgathian and drow elf capital cities, and thus helped turn the tide against the chromatics and their Morgathian puppets, ending the war. The hallowed grounds of this momentous fight became known as Battle Point, and the place where a large trade city under the protection of the Alliance was built.

  Several years pass, and the gold dragon Gallanth was then bonded to his former rider’s son, Mkel. A naturally intended pair, they quickly became the most powerful dragon and rider in all the Alliance. They commanded Draden Weir, one of the thirteen mountain fortresses that defended the republic. Draden was situated on the eastern border of the Alliance astride the only break in the Gray Mountains that separated the republic from the unsettled lands and wild kingdoms of the Kaskar peoples. In the recent months dark forces had started to move as the Dragon Alliance Republic was slowly awakening to the dark storm on its horizon.

  The Draden Weir leader and gold dragonrider Mkel had a vivid and frightening dragon-induced dream of the last horrendous war fought against the Morgathian Empire. His blood-bonded gold dragon, Gallanth had been having visions of both the past and a looming darkness that he perceived threatened the very existence of the Alliance, as gold dragons had a unique sense of foresight. Mkel and Gallanth knew they must ready their soldiers for the war to come, even after their recent victories over Morgathian forces and chromatic dragon squadrons at Battle Point. However, their enemies can be found not only among the ranks of the vengeful Morgathian Empire and their evil chromatic dragon allies, but also within the Alliance itself. A conglomeration of greedy, power-hungry senators, known as the Enlightened, is also conspiring for the downfall of the weirs and the republic. Amid this brewing trouble, Mkel and his dragon must lead their friends and the soldiers of their garrison through several pitched battles with the haunting memory of his father always in the shadows of his mind. The true question he has is, with the odds stacked against them, can his weir and the alliance itself survive?

  The combined Dragon and Wizards’ Councils, comprised of the lead dragon and rider from each weir along with their senior wizard, were called to the Capital Weir in the Alliance capital city of Draconia for a historic combined meeting. This unprecented event was a reaction to the recent deadly battle in the unsettled lands far to the east of the Al
liance border outside the free Alliance city of Battle Point. The city was erected near the sight of the final and massive battle that ended the last Great Dragon War, and represents the order that the Alliance brings to the chaos of the unsettled lands. This major incursion by the Morgathian Talon sorcerer Ashram and his army and squadrons of chromatic dragons was but the first step in the evil empire’s plan to again attempt to destroy the Alliance.

  The attack was thwarted by the Battle Point legion with the aid of Mkel, Gallanth and the powerful members of their weir council, along with help from two silver dragons and riders. But as the first shadow cast from an approaching storm this was only the beginning. While the Honor’s Day games, an annual event of a series of military athletic contests of various types to celebrate the sacrifice of the veterans and the freedom of the Alliance itself, were to take place after the Dragon Council meeting with Mkel and several of his friends and soldiers competing, his mind was focused on the fight to come. He hoped this combined meeting of all of the weirs and the wizards council of thirteen would shed some light onto the events of recent, or at least allow them to formulate a plan both against the Morgathians and the rising internal threat from the Enlightened as these treacherous politicians and their self righteous movement attempted to subvert the Alliance from within.

  In spite of all the tribulation, Mkel was glad to see many of this friends and fellow Weirleaders and dragons. Lord Michenth, the arch dragon and father to all dragonkind with his rider general Becknor, was now calling the meeting to order.

  CHAPTER I

  Dragon Council

  The Dragon Alliance Republic, the beacon of light and hope of freedom for the world, was now being threatened by dark clouds on its horizon. The battles to the east of the Alliance frontier city of Battle Point were the beginning of the threat to the republic and the dragons and men and women who defended it. This tribulation had extended to the oceans, with the increasing pirate wars on all free shipping as well as the fighting under the sea. The Alliance military and all the weirs under the direction of the Dragon Council now had to face the dark forces of the Morgathian Empire and a gathering evil coming in many forms. The internal threat of saboteurs and traitors from the Enlightened political party now reached to the very top levels of power of the Alliance Senate. They were conspiring with the very enemies of the republic, driven by their jealousy and hatred of the dragons and their riders and the freedom they represented. In this era of uncertainty, enemies were rising all around while the ranks of allies grew thin.

  The commanders of the hollowed mountain dragon fortress called Draden Weir, Captain Mkel and Gallanth, the lead rider and his powerful gold dragon, along with their friends, had endured two successive ferocious battles that tested their mettle to the limit. Their fortress guarded the easternmost border of the republic and the only break in the Gray Mountains. Beyond this were the unsettled lands where the separate Alliance city of Battle Point sat as a symbol of hope and stability in an unstable part of the world. Heavy fighting in the last few months had kept the soldiers and warriors of Draden Weir busy. However, in spite of their two victories east of Battle Point and their rescue of the captured Alliance legionnaires, Mkel and Gallanth knew that luck had been with them. Gallanth was one of the most powerful dragons in the world, but even with his rider Mkel’s dragonstone-empowered crossbow and sword, they had barely defeated the squadrons of evil chromatic dragons and the vast army group of the Morgathian Talon sorcerer Ashram.

  Ashram, the overlord of the northwestern province of the Morgathian Empire, which lay many miles to the east of the unsettled lands, had led a third of his total army and a squadron of his chromatic dragons to the vicinity of Battle Point. The sorcerer also enlisted a clan of brutish common giants as his reinforcing element. He hoped to draw the Battle Point legion out and into an ambush, with the promise of any spoils from the region or the outlying towns offered as a reward to his new allies.

  As directed by the evil arch dragon queen Tiamat, the Morgathian prefect Stalenjh planned this attack, which was to begin to piecemeal the more powerful Alliance military and the metallic dragons. However, the skillful maneuvering, leadership, and power of the Battle Point legion, Mkel and Gallanth, their powerful weir council friends, and two silver dragons and riders were able to turn the tide and crush the Morgathian incursion. Ashram had managed a narrow escape from Mkel and Gallanth by sacrificing part of his life force through his dark crystal staff, barely teleporting back to his home castle in time.

  Before the counterstrike against the Morgathian incursion, Captain Mkel’s ranger platoon leader, Lieutenant Lupek, and his elf companion had conducted a reconnaissance of a gathering fire giant army that could threaten the eastern border of the Alliance. Mkel and Gallanth knew that all the coastal weirs were occupied with pirate incursions and roving Morgathian warships. The powerful Capital Wing from the republic’s principal city of Draconia was also busy conducting a diplomatic mission in the desert kingdom of Shidan. This meant that his friends and his soldiers, along with Eladran Weir, had to stand alone against this onslaught. Shadow was now gathering from all sides, but Draden Weir still had a few friends left.

  After returning to Draden Weir from the battles in the unsettled lands, Mkel was happy to receive a visit from his ally and friend Lawrent. He and his men had sailed up the Severic River to conduct their semiannual visit for trade, training, and merriment. The tall barbarian was Draden Weir’s partner from the Alliance allied island kingdom of Freiland that lay a thousand miles to the west of the Alliance’s west coast. Mkel always looked forward to his visits with his vivacious and loud friend, but especially now with the trouble brewing in the east. The trade had always been good with the Freilanders as well, but it was a two-edged sword with the raiders being sometimes overly rambunctious. The trading did go well, and friendships were renewed. However, Lawrent told Mkel and Jodem, the wise Draden Weir wizard, of the increasing numbers of pirate ships attacking the sea lanes and the undersea war between the mermen and the vicious saragwin.

  These vicious amphibian humanoid creatures resemble a cross between a man, fish, frog and lizard. They are green to greenish black in coloration often with black or dark stripes. Their scaly skin, webbed clawed fingers and toes, a webbed tail, toothy mouths with shark like teeth make them look like the sea devils to which their name means in elvish. Lawrent also told them of the escalating civil war between the tribes of the large Canaris Twins mini continent, suggesting that it smelled of Morgathian provocation.

  Shadow was on the rise as the ruling magitocracy of the Morgathian Empire, the Talon Covenant, had been summoned by their evil arch dragon ruler Tiamat to her huge fortress overlooking the sprawling but oppressed Morgathian capital city of Aserghul. The five-headed dragon queen and her Usurper Five, the most powerful of each of the five species of chromatic dragons, called all of the empire’s provincial overlords in for the gathering. These Talon sorcerers with their lead dragons and chief death knights were among the most feared force of evil and destruction known to the world. It took the combined might of the Alliance and all of the metallic dragons and their riders to defeat them and their armies at the last battle of the Great Dragon War, at what was now the site of the city of Battle Point. The prefect of the Talon Covenant, Stalenjh, was Tiamat’s direct voice to both the covenant and the empire itself, because of her injuries from the Great Dragon War, inflicted by her former mate, Michenth, the arch dragon of the Alliance.

  After an internal squabble between a provincial death knight and Uthrex, the red dragon of Tiamat’s court, the arch dragon queen had killed her detractor. She then demanded the plan to move against the Alliance on the fringes of their lands and their allies be implemented immediately. The Covenant’s concern over the Morgathian defeat at Handsdown and the larger battle afterward, where the Talon sorcerer Ashram’s army and two squadrons of chromatics were destroyed, was cautiously brought to her attention. The dragon queen f
orcefully dismissed this notion as she commandingly dictated her multipronged plot. She focused on the metallic dragonriders of the Alliance as the main target of her vengeful plan, being the architect of the pending destruction.

  To address the dark storm on the horizon, the Alliance Dragon Council, which included the lead dragon and rider of each weir, had been called together to bring light to this gathering shadow. Unfortunately, the Battle of Handsdown had proved to create more questions than answers. The dark elf priestess that Mkel and Gallanth had captured told of an ominous plan being unfolded against the Alliance. However, as Mkel’s weir wizard Jodem was interrogating her, she was mysteriously killed by a Black Scarab Shidanese assassin. Her information had seemed to be of more value than her life, which for a powerful female drow cleric was unusual. The Enlightened’s involvement with this unsavory event seemed too connected to be coincidental and was wrapped in intrigue and treachery.

  The pending Honors Day Games, one of the largest sports competitions and the traditional celebration of the veterans, alive and dead, who sacrificed for the freedom of the Alliance were just days away. A series of competitions based on military skills, from jousting by horse, from the air, with sword and other weapons tournaments to archery and heavy long-range weapons matches—both traditional and dragonstone empowered—the popular dragon strike match, the dragon race, the dragon ground thunder game, and several Alliance armed forces displays and demonstration were all scheduled for the entertainment of the Alliance citizenry and to honor the veterans. A hopeful distraction from the events of late, it was a time of celebration and thanks for what the Alliance stood for: freedom and honor.

  As Mkel and most of his weir council had arrived at the Capital Weir in Draconia with Lawrent in preparation for both the Dragon Council meeting and for the Honors Day Games, he was able to see some of his fellow Weirleaders and friends he had not seen in some time. A large meal was put on by the Capital Weir for the other twelve Weirleaders and their dragons and friends, which turned into a festive reunion. However, business was at hand, and General Becknor, rider of the Michenth, called for the Dragon Council to convene.