Dragon emperor 9, p.8
Dragon Emperor 9, page 8
part #9 of Dragon Emperor Series
“Oh, I definitely wanted to roast them,” I agreed. “But it doesn’t seem like all of them are assholes. I’d like to know more about this Whitaker dude, though.”
“Dude?” Nike raised a brow.
“Man, guy, person,” I clarified with a wave of my hand. “Whatever he is, he’s a prick. I don’t trust him or believe he’s looking out for the people. So, we’re going to have to do it for him. We came here for the portals, but I think something else is going on.”
“I agree,” Aaliyah chimed in. “And the council members don’t trust each other at all. They remind me of the leaders of Tikal before you came in and helped us.”
“Good point,” Ravi said. “They clearly do not have the same opinions about everything. Poor Tilly was terrified when she saw you.”
“Mice are always scared,” Aaliyah chuckled and licked one of her long claws. “You want me to go scare her some more?”
“Maybe,” I laughed. “But not yet. We’re going to keep laying low for now. In fact, we probably should split up to go look for the portals. All of us together will stand out, but a couple of us should be easier to blend in. What do you think, Nike?”
“I agree.” The noble nodded, and his silver eyes scanned the walls of the courtyard around us. “We should be close to the center of the city here. We could spread out to each corner in groups of two and three.”
“Good idea,” I conceded. “You and Laika take the southwest corner, and the dryads can take the southeast corner. Alyona, you and Aaliyah can go northeast, and Ravi and I will go northwest. Once you’ve made it to the edge of the city, we’ll meet back up here. Don’t engage with anyone if you find them. Our groups are too small to take on a mage by themselves. Just come back here and wait for the rest of us. Any questions?”
“Yes,” Aaliyah said as she raised her hand. “What are we looking for, exactly?”
“Oh, yes,” Alyona replied as she sat up a little straighter and took on her studious, teacherly tone. “The portals emanate magic, so you should be able to feel that, but these ones likely will also smell like the miasma. I know you aren’t as familiar with it, but it’s a hard scent to miss.”
“The smell of the bats?” Aaliyah asked and scrunched up her nose. “I’ll remember that forever.”
“How will we know if the portal has been opened, though?” Trina questioned.
“Assuming it’s not an actual open door, right?” Polina added.
“That seems like it would be pretty obvious,” Marina giggled.
“It could be in one of many forms,” Alyona murmured. “It could be a door, water, a wall, a window. It’s hard to say what it will look like if it’s open, but you’ll know. It will feel like death.”
“Of course, it will,” I muttered before I spoke up to the group. “Everyone clear?”
After a few nods and the last few bites of bread, we split up and started our search. Ravi and I walked through a handful of other businesses, including a metal shop and a place that looked like a flea market. I was surprised to see an art store, as well. The walls were covered in various paintings and drawings, and the shelves held a meager supply of paints and other tools of the trade. It seemed the people of Colaruma had more options than the other cities we’d visited.
We walked further toward the outer edge of the city, and I noticed the transition back into residential housing, but these houses were in even worse condition than the ones we’d passed yesterday. The buildings were literally falling apart. One roof had slid down to expose the ceiling beams, and another house had completely crumbled and looked deserted. The people who walked around in this area also wore clothes that were practically rags, with holes and tears all over them.
Then I saw Laurel, the human woman who had begged for bread yesterday. She carried a small boy, no older than a year old, and a huge smile stretched across his filthy face as Laurel tossed him up into the air and caught him.
“Is that the woman we saw?” Ravi whispered.
“Yes,” I confirmed. “I wish we’d saved some of our bread.”
“Me, too.” The phoenix frowned.
I nodded politely to Laurel, and we continued past the houses where we found a few dilapidated buildings that made even the worst neighborhood look decent. One building was just a pile of stones, but another drew my attention.
The old well house was built from thick, dark gray stones and covered in a layer of green moss that spread from the ground and up onto the shingles of the roof. A small steeple rose from the top, and several designs were carved into the face of the stones.
It wasn’t the architecture that drew my attention, however. It was the foreboding sense of dark magic that radiated from within the building.
“You feel that?” I asked Ravi.
“Yes,” she answered with a shiver.
“Get ready,” I murmured.
I’d told the rest of my party not to engage if they found something, but I was a dragon lord and was pretty confident in my abilities to handle just about anything.
So, I pushed open the unlocked door and dragged my gaze around the room before signaling for Ravi to follow me inside. I closed the door behind us, and the sense of magic was so strong, my head began to throb.
In the center of the room was the well, and it looked like a regular well with stone walls and a bucket on the floor next to it. Above the well, a giant spool was attached to the walls on either side, and a rope was wrapped around the middle with another bucket on the end to reel water up.
Along the wall next to the well sat two wooden chairs and a small table, and it looked like the Sentinels were missing from here as well.
“Where is it coming from?” Ravi murmured as we both searched the small building.
“Here,” I called out.
We looked down into the well and saw the surface of the water was marred by red and black swirls, but the liquid didn’t ripple from the movement. It looked like smoke under the shallow depths, and the swirls moved much like the miasma that had attacked Hatra.
“It doesn’t feel like death,” I said. “I guess this one is still closed.”
“But the Sect took the Sentinels,” Ravi replied. “Why didn’t they open it?”
“Maybe they’re moving slowly,” I suggested. “They might not have realized we’d catch up with them so quickly.”
“That’s true,” the phoenix said with a frown.
“What’s bothering you?” I prodded.
“Well, the Green Glass Sect has never moved slowly before,” she replied. “They make a plan and carry it out.”
“Then maybe it was less of a slow plan and more of what they had to do,” I mused. “Maybe the Sentinels put up a good fight.”
“That makes more sense,” Ravi agreed.
“Alright, let’s head back and meet up with the others,” I said and pulled the door open.
We walked outside, and I shut the door behind us. Then I turned back and faced the building. We had to make sure no one else went in without the Sentinels here to guard it, so I summoned my stone magic and pulled some of the rock from the wall next to the door. I molded it into a hook and wrapped it around the handle then back to the wall. It was a weird looking lock, but it should do the trick.
Ravi and I made our way back to the courtyard where the dryads waited on one of the benches, and we sat down across from the sisters, who looked frustrated.
“Nothing?” I asked them.
“No portals in our section,” Trina pouted.
“No action for us,” Marina agreed with a frown.
“Unless you give us some later,” Polina giggled.
“Always happy to serve my ladies,” I chuckled. “Well, we found a portal, but it’s still closed, and the Sentinels were gone.”
“We found one!” I heard Alyona call out as she and Aaliyah jogged into the courtyard.
Then Laika and Nike trotted into the entrance behind them.
“Is it open?” I asked.
“You found a portal?” Laika’s gray eyes widened.
“Yes, and yes,” Aaliyah confirmed as her feline features creased with disgust. “And it does truly smell like death.”
“We have to close it,” Alyona said, and her amethyst eyes were clouded with worry.
“We will, princess,” I consoled her. “I want to go talk to Mateo first. We need to see if the council knows. If they don’t, we should have something to show them. If they do, we need to be careful about who to trust.”
“You’re probably right,” Alyona agreed. “If they don’t know about the portals, they aren’t going to just believe us without some kind of evidence, especially evidence that they’re in danger.”
“Exactly,” I said. “Laika and Nike, you two guard the open portal until we get back. The rest of us will go find Mateo. We’ll be there soon, so Alyona can seal it back up. You found a spell for that, right?”
“Yes,” the princess answered. “I can do it.”
“I know.” I smiled. I liked her newfound confidence.
“Where is the open portal located?” Nike asked Alyona.
“Over there, past the greenhouse, there’s an old blacksmith shop,” the princess explained. “It’s in there, but the door is spelled with the same mirage magic that the Sect used in the forest for their traps. You have to walk through it to get to the door.”
“How will we know where it is, milady?” Laika questioned.
“The mirage looks like ivy growing on the wall,” Alyona replied. “Once you walk through it, the door is right there.”
“Okay, we’ll be there until you arrive,” Nike confirmed and turned back to me. “See you soon, brother.”
I nodded, and the two warriors headed toward the shop.
Then I motioned for the other women to follow me as I made my way to the Council Tower. As we walked down the road, I noticed the townspeople trying not to stare at our group. Tilly hadn’t been kidding about no visitors. The people looked at us like we each had three heads.
As we reached the bottom of the tower’s stone steps, Mateo burst out of the wooden doors.
“What, uh, what are you doing here?” Mateo stammered breathlessly.
“We need to talk,” I said. “Is this a good time?”
“Ah, no, probably not,” he replied and glanced over his shoulder. “Does it have to be right now?”
“Yeah, kind of a life or death deal.” I furrowed my brow and stared at him.
“Okay, okay,” the dwarf said as he put his hands up in a surrender. “Let’s walk over here.”
He led us to a small grassy area just in front of the tower, and I got right down to business.
“What do you know about the portals?” I demanded.
“The portals!” Mateo exclaimed and threw his hands up into the air. “How do you know about them?”
“Let’s just say I have a direct line to His Eminence.” I smirked. “What do you know about them?”
“I know the Sentinels guard them,” the dwarf hedged.
“And did you know they’re gone?” I prodded.
“What?” Mateo gasped, and he seemed genuinely surprised. “They were just there last week. They told me they were sending a messenger to King Rodion because there was a problem with one of the portals.”
“I’d say it’s a problem,” Polina snorted.
“A pretty big one,” Marina said with a roll of her emerald eyes.
“Probably the biggest one you could have,” Trina agreed.
“Yeah, it’s open,” I added.
Mateo’s blue eyes widened in shock, and his mouth fell open as he just stared at us.
“We have to close it,” Alyona told him.
“None of our mages are strong enough for that,” the dwarf murmured as he began to wring his hands. “I can’t believe it. Are you sure it’s open?”
“Yes,” Alyona replied with a nod. “I saw it for myself.”
“Oh, gods,” Mateo moaned and covered his face with his hands. “I thought it was all okay because the Sentinels never told me if the king responded to their messenger. They would have told me.”
“I’d bet the Green Glass Sect got rid of the messenger,” I mused.
“Yes, they wouldn’t want His Eminence to know about it so early in their plans,” Alyona agreed. “He would have killed them all in an instant.”
“Wait, who is the Green Glass Sect?” Mateo interjected.
“They’re the ones trying to release the demons,” I replied. “We’ve been trying to catch up with them for a while now.”
“Ah, so you’re not a trader,” the dwarf sighed. “I knew you were lying, but at least you’re not the ones trying to open the portals.”
“Does the rest of the council know I’m not a trader?” I eyed him suspiciously.
“No, no, not at all!” he answered. “They’re too caught up in their own lives to worry about an outsider. Though apparently, they should be paying more attention.”
“Yeah, they basically suck,” I agreed.
“Well, what are we going to do?” Mateo asked. “I could call all the mages, but I have a feeling it would just be a waste. None of them are trained in anything like this.”
“Don’t worry,” I chuckled. “Lucky for you, we have a solution.”
“What is it?” Mateo frowned. “Maybe I should tell the council about the portal being open at least.”
“No,” I growled and bared my teeth. “You tell them, and I’ll tear you apart.”
“O-O-Okay,” the dwarf stuttered and gulped as he backed away a step. “It’s our secret. I swear.”
“Good.” I patted him on the head. “I’ll let you know when it’s done.”
I turned on my heels and marched back toward the blacksmith shop. The women followed me and discussed the plan of action.
“Do you think you can use the Sonic Seal?” Ravi asked Alyona.
“I don’t think that will hold long,” Alyona answered and rubbed her chin. “I was thinking the Tristal Seal. What do you think?”
“Oh, yes, that makes perfect sense for the triad of portals,” the phoenix agreed.
“Exactly what I thought.” Alyona smiled at her.
I had no idea what they were talking about, but I trusted the princess and the phoenix to know their stuff.
About twenty minutes later, we arrived at the shop. It felt like a whole day had passed since we’d woken up, but it was hard to tell the time of day without a sun or moon. The dark magic flowed out from the building in waves, and it was ten times worse than the wellhouse. I looked around for the ivy, and Alyona pointed to a section that crawled up the stone wall.
“You three stay out here,” I told the dryads. “Make sure no one else comes in.”
The sisters nodded and assumed the positions of security guards with their arms folded across their chests.
We walked over to the ivy mirage, and I followed the princess’ directions to walk through it. It was like walking through a curtain, and my view instantly changed from ivy to a wooden door about a foot from the mirage. Then I pulled the door open to see Laika and Nike standing over the forge as the stench of death filled the air.
Nike held the Sword of Light and batted away at clouds of miasma that seeped from the forge, while the wolf-warrior sliced at the smoky poison with her daggers. Then the noble turned to see us walk in and refocused on his task.
“We can’t get rid of it,” Nike explained as he took another strike, “but it really doesn’t seem to like the light of my sword.”
“Sounds like an evil thing to me,” I said before I turned to the princess. “We need to work quickly.”
Alyona nodded, walked closer to the forge, and began to utter the sealing spell.
As soon as she started, the stones that held up the forge began to light up a neon green color that matched the Green Glass Sect’s infamous tattoo.
So far, every member of the Sect we’d captured had the green leaf symbol of the Sect tattooed on them somewhere. The problem was not the tattoo, but rather the link it provided to the Sect’s Sage. The tattoos were cursed, and the curse allowed the Sage to see if the member was giving us information, and then to kill them.
The glowing stones trembled and then began to melt into a neon green lava that suddenly flowed directly toward the princess.
The fuck?
I conjured a fire shield and stretched it out in front of her, and the lime-colored lava flood crashed into the shield and pushed against the barrier.
“Ravi, take over my shield!” I called out to the phoenix. “I have to cool the lava down.”
Ravi nodded and grabbed the end of my shield to hold it in front of Alyona.
When that was taken care of, I summoned my water magic and focused on finding a source of water near us. Only a few feet below the ground, I tapped into an aquifer, and I pulled the water up through the soil and dumped it onto the lava as it collided with the fire shield.
The lava began to sizzle as it cooled, and then it started to harden into forest green rocks.
“Keep going,” I told Alyona. “Don’t stop, we’ll protect you.”
The princess nodded and resumed her spell while I continued to pour water on the torrent of green lava. A moment later, the first seal appeared above the forge. It was a silvery ring that shined brightly in the dim room and then slammed into the top of the forge.
As soon as the seal landed, a horde of insects burst from the rafters. The creatures were black and green with wings the size of my palm. The flying bugs were about eight inches long, and their stingers were aimed at Alyona.
“Look out!” Laika yelled as she swung her broadsword at several of the insects.
Aaliyah roared and jumped in front of the princess. She swiped her clawed hands at the diving bugs, and their giant bodies fell to the floor in pieces as she tore them apart. Then she roared again like she was daring more of the little creatures to attack.
Suddenly, a second magical ring appeared in the air, this one black as night, and it crashed onto the forge. The miasma no longer seeped out into the air, and we could see its smoky form as it ran into an invisible barrier.
“And the doorway must be closed!” Alyona finished the spell with a final shout as the third ring appeared above the forge. The ring was stark white, the color of Alyona’s pure magic, and it slammed into the forge hard enough to rattle the stone walls around us.
