Dragon Alliance: Rise Against Shadow Read online

  Before Gallanth and Jmes could intercept them, the death knight lifted his dark crystal vampire blade and hurled it toward Michenth. Immediately afterward, the sorcerer produced a deadly Orb of Annihilation, a hideous but extremely powerful weapon about the size of a melon. The solid black globe was powered by a large dark crystal and reinforced by numerous death and disruption spells. The orb darted behind the vampire sword, and they both headed directly toward Michenth. Gallanth fired a plasma fireball from his gaping jaws, and a sunburst beam from his eyes that shattered the blue’s magic shield.

  Jmes lifted Kershan, his single-edged mithril sword, with its glowing ruby dragonstone, and hurled it toward the blue. The intelligent sword streamed toward the sorcerer, who pushed the death knight into its path. The sword pierced his reinforced black iron armor and sunk to the pommel guard, and its curved silvery blade emerged from his back and impaled the sorcerer’s shoulder. The death knight grasped the pommel, screaming in pain; blood spurted out of his chest and back, but he could not remove the powerful sword from his armor.

  Unfortunately, the vampire blade found its mark and pierced Michenth’s armored hide behind his shoulder; few blades could penetrate the mithril dragon’s skin. As the arch dragon winced, the black orb exploded just short of the point of penetration of the vampire sword, owing to the Morgathian sorcerer’s injury, which had broken his concentration on the deadly device.

  At the same time, Becknor slew the rohrlog with a final smite from his mithril sword, upon which it exploded in its death throe. Becknor’s sword shielded him and Michenth from that blast, but he was not ready for the sphere’s destructive implosion. Michenth’s magic shield was worn down as a result of his intense battle with Tiamat, which made him vulnerable to this type of attack. The incredible blast knocked him and Becknor unconscious, sending them hurtling toward the ground. If Jmes had not wounded the Morgathian sorcerer, the powerful sphere would have found its deadly mark.

  Gallanth whirled around to head toward Michenth, after finishing off the blue dragon and the injured Talon sorcerer with another blast of his sunburst beam, striking them both and sending them on a death spiral. He roared to get the attention of any gold or silver dragons in the immediate area to come to his aid. His brother, Falcanth, another gold dragon, Eagrenth, and the silver dragon, Talonth, answered the call.

  Just as he was ready to go into teleport to help Michenth, a black nightmare horse appeared out of nowhere, with a drow sorcerer and a hideous flayer mounted on it. The drow fired a sonic blast from his death staff, which hit Jmes’s flying saddle rig. The spell struck its intended target, for Jmes did not have his sword’s magic shield, and Gallanth’s shield was depleted from the intense combat. The flayer then let loose a thought spell that hit Jmes. The gold dragonrider was suddenly racked with an intense pain, as though his head were going to burst, and he immediately fell from Gallanth’s neck, holding his head while screaming in agony.

  Gallanth was already in the process of teleporting; the light rays formed a brilliant blue tunnel around him, and he could not stop the procedure once initiated. His large golden frame vanished. He quickly emerged without his rider above Michenth, whom he grabbed immediately, followed up by Eagrenth on Michenth’s other flank, Falcanth to his front, and Talonth on his tail. Jmes continued to fall, screaming.

  Grab your ring, Jmes, grab your ring! Gallanth shouted telepathically; he also roared out loud to his rider and mind partner. He could feel the pain Jmes was going through but was helpless to stop it. Jmes’s dragonstone ring would have controlled his fall, but he could not concentrate on it to enable its power to work. His mithril helmet would also have stopped the flayer’s attack, but he had given it to an Enlightened Party senator as a gift of good will to ensure their support of the war effort.

  Gallanth and the other three dragons managed to control their dragon lord’s descent and set him gently on the ground. Immediately, a female gold dragon and a support corps healer group landed beside them and began to administer aid; they attempted to stem the bluish blood flowing from Michenth’s gaping wound. Gallanth was about to jump into the air and teleport to Jmes, when he felt the telepathic connection with his rider sever as Jmes hit the ground and was killed instantly. The other dragons raised their heads as Gallanth’s roar shook the ground, for they could feel his intense pain from losing his rider.

  Gallanth then launched from the ground and disappeared. “Gallanth, no, you can’t attack on your own!” Falcanth roared to his brother, but it was already too late and Gallanth was too enraged to listen. He emerged in front of the midnight black demon steed, which quickly spurred, and started to fly away as fast as its fiery hooves could take it. Gallanth gave immediate chase. Nightmares fear almost nothing, but this demon horse showed fright now. The black beast and its riders attempted to teleport out but were thwarted by Gallanth’s vengeful roar, which had the power to dispel and disrupt magic. As he gained on the dodging nightmare, the flayer fired a mind blast at the closing gold dragon. Gallanth felt the invisible impact but shook it off, as adult dragons are immune to these types of attacks. The creature then started to panic and turned to its drow companion to get them out of the area, but the drow screamed back that he could not. The nightmare kept swerving and dodging, but Gallanth was faster and quickly caught up to the black steed. With one swipe of his huge claws, he severed the nightmare’s hindquarter along with the flayer’s left leg. The evil steed then plummeted toward the ground and crashed in a field.

  The drow and the flayer rolled away from their steed. The hideous flayer’s leg was bleeding and the drow suffered several broken ribs, but they still managed to get up and attempted to escape. Gallanth back winged and landed on the black steed with a thunderous impact like a hurricane. This knocked the two evil beings back to the ground and crushed their wounded steed. Gallanth then walked slowly toward them, shaking the ground with each step. He shouted in Draconic with a thunderous tone, “Feel fear, for your death approaches, and your kin will feel my wrath!” The drow raised his staff and cast a lightning bolt. It found its mark, striking the dragon in the chest, but Gallanth took the damage and did not even wince through his rage. He first looked at them directly and forcefully read the drow’s mind to discern the underground location of the dark elf city and the adjacent flayer villages. This painful thought extraction caused the dark elf to scream in shear agony.

  Gallanth then raised his mighty head and opened his jaws, exposing his razor sharp, eighteen-inch-long teeth and a pair of three-foot-long fangs; fire gathered in his throat and then spewed out, engulfing the evil beings in the searing hot, red-orange plume. Their faces contorted in fear, giving away to the screams of pain as they were incinerated. Their painful deaths did not lessen the gold dragon’s rage, but he had avenged his rider. However, he was not finished.

  Mkel woke from his dragon-induced dream sweating, with his heart pounding. He reached out and his sword, Kershan, flew across the room to his outstretched hand, the red ruby dragonstone in its pommel glowing brightly. It is all right, my friend. I was dreaming of your father and the war. You and Michen are all right. No harm will ever come to you or him, I promise that, Gallanth said to him telepathically in a sincere tone. Mkel had felt this dream before, but it was becoming more common, and more intense. Dragons seldom dream, but Gallanth was doing so more often as of late. He knew the story of the last Great Dragon War, and his father’s induced suicide death, and Gallanth attacking the underground drow capital city alone in his rage. He had burnt half the city, killing hundreds of drow as well as two flayer villages. He was only driven off by repeated magical attacks by their most powerful sorcerers and female clerics that had stayed behind while others had been fighting on the plains of the unsettled lands.

  Gallanth had then teleported to Aserghul, the Morgathian capital city, and let loose several devastating plasma blasts on the five towers of Tiamat’s fortress, wreathing it in flame. He retreated after
being hit by multiple lightning bolts, disruption rays, and ballista spears. And that was only at the urgent request of the remaining gold dragons, especially his brother, or he would have been killed himself. The gold dragon then teleported back to the dying battlefield, leaving the Morgathian palace in flames. The single attack of an enraged gold dragon actually distracted the Morgathian leadership and caused a break in the dark army’s line, proving the pivotal point in the battle. The orcs, drow, Morgathian armies, and all of their allies were beaten back, both out of revenge for Michenth and by the courage of Gallanth’s attack, which boosted the morale of the Alliance armies. However, to this day it is not known how he penetrated the almost invincible magic shield provided by the largest pieces of dark crystal embedded in the five Morgathian towers. It was also not known how he survived the powerful disruption rays from those crystals. Not even Michenth could penetrate the shield with his photon breath weapon. Gallanth himself did not know how he got through it that day.

  Mkel also knew of the guilt that Gallanth felt over his father’s death, even now almost thirty years later. Dragons, especially gold and silver dragons, display a deep affection for the human race and an intensely close bond with their riders. The loss of a rider can actually drive a metallic dragon that normally is among the most intelligent and wisest of all creatures, temporarily insane.

  “I know, my friend. Please do not blame yourself for what happened. It could not have been helped. The Morgathians and the drow are to blame, not you,” Mkel said to his dragon partner. His wife, Annan, barely stirred during the episode. She could sleep through Gallanth’s roar, Mkel thought to himself. So much for the elf half part of her, with all the enhanced senses of her kin, for she was a very deep sleeper. Drake, their elf hound, lowered his head and went back to its watchful sleep at the entrance to the sleeping chamber of Michen, Annan and Mkel’s son. Drake weighed in at over two hundred fifty pounds and had incredibly keen senses. He could even see invisible creatures, and he could change the color of his coat, like a chameleon, to match his background. His large head and powerful jaws could rip a grown man’s arm off with relative ease.

  Mkel was seven years old when his father died. He still remembered his mother and Gallanth waking him up the morning after the battle to tell him. His mother was crying but was still very strong, like always. Even though dragons don’t cry, he thought he could see tears in the gold dragon’s huge, yellowish eyes. He remembered the promise that Gallanth made to him that day to always look over him and be there for him. Gallanth was a gold dragon, and the biggest one at that. He measured forty-five yards in length, from nose to tail, and had a seventy-five-yard wingspan. He was colossal by a grown man’s standard and looked even more immense to a seven-year-old boy.

  Mkel also remembered the trip that he and Gallanth took years later to Draconia to see Michenth (on one of the rare occasions that the arch dragon was awake). Even today, thirty years later, the arch dragon was still healing from the wounds he received that day from the vampire blade and dark crystal sphere. Michenth was even larger than Gallanth, being fifty yards long with a wingspan of over eighty-three yards. Mkel remembered entering the great hall in the Capital Weir and walking beside Gallanth and Jodem, the Draden master wizard. Speaking in Draconic, Gallanth introduced Mkel to Michenth as his future rider and soul partner (Mkel did not understand the language at that time but later realized what Gallanth had said to the arch dragon). Michenth raised his huge head from the ground and spoke to Mkel in a soft yet commanding voice:

  “You have a large, caring heart and a good soul, young one,” the arch dragon said. “You will make a fine dragonrider and leader one day. Remember to always fight the good fight, be honorable and true to yourself, and take care of all in your charge. For with this great power comes greater responsibility, and the lives of many will rest in your hands. Have faith and honor above all else.” The mithril dragon finished talking, nodded to Gallanth, and then lowered his head and fell back asleep.

  Michenth would sleep for weeks or months at a time, rising only for special occasions, to attend conferences, and to eat. It would take decades for his wounds to heal, for the most powerful evil weapons known to the Morgathians had hit him when he was the most vulnerable. By all rights, he should have been killed.

  Mkel walked over to Michen’s sleeping chamber and watched his son sleeping soundly in his crib through the lighting crystal’s shielded glow. The elf hound did not lift its large head, but Mkel knew he was aware of his presence. The seven-foot-long elvish canine would defend his son to the death, if need be. He then proceeded out of his room into the adjoining landing that served as Gallanth’s ledge. He had put his room shoes on, for the gold, silver, and platinum coins and gems that littered the floor were hard to walk on with bare feet.

  Mkel knelt beside Gallanth’s immense head and leaned against his cheek. “I will always be there for you, my friend,” Gallanth told him. Lying beside his dragon was always comforting to Mkel. Gallanth had been his protector, tutor, soul mate, and friend since his father’s death. His wisdom was unsurpassed, and the depths of a dragon’s emotions were almost beyond human comprehension. “I know, Gallanth. I have always been able to count on you,” he replied. Mkel started to fall back asleep lying next to the mighty dragon, as if the rest of the world did not exist.

  When morning came, the Weir watch guard blew the warning horn that signaled the arrival of the rangers, returning from patrol on their griffons. Lupek, the ranger platoon commander, had attended this patrol himself; his instincts had made him (and Deless, his elf comrade) wary of some type of problem. They had been patrolling the southern chain of the Gray Mountains for over two weeks, for they had felt that the fire giants were up to something before the onset of the fall season. Mkel got up from Gallanth’s side and walked back to his chamber. Annan and Michen were still asleep, so he went into his bathing room and began to prepare for the day.

  Using his seeing crystal, Mkel called Lupek to be ready to give the brief from the senior rangers and their men. The rest of the day would consist of training the Weir garrison in preparation for next week’s combined exercise with the Draden regiment. He, Gallanth, and Jodem would be taking a trip to Battle Point afterward. The Senior Sergeant of the Weir, Toderan would be in charge of the fortress during his absence. The Battle Point legion’s commander had sent a message through his wizard that there was a lot of activity to his northeast and south, and he wanted to have a meeting with him and Jodem.

  After Mkel bathed, and while he was shaving, he started thinking about the legion at Battle Point and the frontier city it protected. “A rough life out there,” he said to himself. That legion was in the middle of the unsettled lands at the place of the immense battle some decades earlier. The loosely held empire of the Kaskars was to the north, the middle kingdoms (or Northern Ontaror kingdoms) were to the south, and small independent kingdoms were to the east. The Morgathians were much farther east, but within a long striking distance of the fortified city. All the while, they were a three- to four-week ride from any reinforcement from the Alliance, other than from Draden Weir and those that could be sent through the teleportation circles at Draden. The Capital Wing from Draconia was now capable of teleporting an entire legion if needed, along with the incredible power of the wing itself. All could be of quick assistance, but it would be difficult to plan and execute rapidly. Battle Point endured constant skirmishes from Morgathians and its allies and a host of other independent forces.

  Mkel finished with his personal hygiene and put on his uniform tunic, riding pants, and boots. He checked his uniform, which the halfling tailors always cleaned and prepared with impeccable workmanship. His captain rank symbol of three silver diamonds was aligned correctly on his right collar, as was his dragonrider symbol (a gold dragon with outstretched wings over a crossed sword and arrow). Dragonriders always wore the symbol of the dragon they were bonded to on their collar. All were treated as Allianc
e officers, but Mkel also wore the infantry officer insignia in conjunction with his dragon symbol, for he was one of the few dragonriders who also served as a commissioned Alliance officer. Most dragonriders were either wizards or fighters, with no prior military leadership background.

  He left Kershan, his sword; hanging in his bedroom chamber with Markthrea, his special crossbow, on the wall in Gallanth’s landing. He walked down the winding stone stairs to the ground floor and then to the dining hall. He met Lupek and Deless half way across the grounds beside the Weir’s lake, hugging Lupek after a rough salute and a courtesy nod to Deless. “You fared well, my friend,” Mkel said.

  “Much better than the orc scouts that were making their way across the plains heading to the Weir,” Lupek replied. “We killed six of them mounted on dire wolves and hellhounds and let one get away so we could track him. We followed him for over a hundred miles to the outskirts of Lucian Forest, which he skirted to avoid Haldrin’s elven patrols. We kept with him until he entered the northernmost fire giant border, where we slew his mount and captured him after he spotted us. After Deless interrogated him in his special way, we extracted some surprising information.”

  “Hold on, my friend, why don’t you get something to eat and see your family, and we’ll continue this after lunch,” Mkel interrupted, for he knew Lupek’s dedication to the mission, and he would have given him the whole briefing right there, but he wanted him to rest up and see his family first. Lupek was the leader of the thirty-six-member griffon-mounted ranger platoon and third in command of the Weir’s garrison, after Mkel and Toderan. He was a master ranger of great skill and also carried the rank of senior lieutenant. He oversaw the deployment of the rangers, who performed reconnaissance missions and raids into the unsettled frontier. They also flew over the Gray Mountains as well to ensure no surprises crept into that area. The ranger platoon was based in the Weir along with the rest of the garrison.