Doom of the Dragon (23 page)

Skylan had started to turn away, thinking they were finished, when Torval stopped him.

“I have not yet finished with you,” said Torval sternly. He called for silence and when the warriors had settled down, he placed his hand on Skylan's shoulder.

“Skylan Ivorson, I forged you in fire and in blood. I struck you with my hammer and you did not break. You failed me and yourself and others, but you learned from failure. True, you have made me proud and I hereby relieve you of the name Fish Knife. You have earned the name Torval's Sword.”

Walking over to Skylan, Torval handed him a leather sheath.

“Joabis has given you God-rage, a sword that I once gave him. Keep it safe in this sheath and the blade will never break.”

The sheath was made of stiffened leather ornately worked in gold, with a gold chape at the tip and gold at the throat. Skylan fell to his knees before the god, his heart too full to let him speak.

He wished Aylaen could be here, but he would have the joy of telling her.

“Rise up, Torval's Sword,” said a familiar voice.

Skylan looked to see his father standing before him, his eyes shining with pride.

Skylan shook his head and remained on his knees.

“Say you forgive me, Father,” said Skylan. “Or I will be Fish Knife all the rest of my days.”

“Between father and son, there is nothing to forgive,” said Norgaard. “May you wield God-rage in honor and die with your sword in your hand.”

“Thank you, Father,” said Skylan. He touched the amulet around his neck. “In Torval's name.”

He stood up, intending to embrace his father, thank Torval, and celebrate with his friends.

But his father was gone; Torval was gone. Garn and his other friends were gone, as was Joabis. Skylan was standing on an empty beach at sunset. He inhaled deeply and smelled the sea air. He tasted the salt spray on his lips and felt the cool water break around his ankles as the waves rolled up the shore where he stood. He heard Aylaen call his name and turned to see her splashing through the waves, running to his arms. He felt her embrace, warm and strong.

The realm of death was gone. At long last, he was back in the land of the living.

 

CHAPTER

19

Keeping fast hold of Aylaen, Skylan walked farther up the shore to see Bear Walker standing among hundreds of ogre warriors, talking to them. The ogres listened to their chief, silent and attentive. Far different were the hundreds of Cyclopes warriors, who were making a riotous clamor. Each Cyclopes had to have a say and they were saying it all at once.

Sigurd and Grimuir, Bjorn and Erdmun stood on the shore chatting with Farinn, who had been delighted to see them and left the dragonship to greet them. The other Vindrasi warriors had departed, sailing with Torval back to Vindraholm to prepare for Aelon's attack.

Skylan turned to Aylaen. “We have to make a decision, my love, and we don't have much time. Aelon told me that Raegar is leading the largest army ever assembled to attack the land of the Stormlords.”

Aylaen regarded him in dismay. “He seeks the spiritbone!” Then she paused, frowning in perplexity. “Why would the god tell you? Aelon knows we will try to stop him.”

“The very reason why he told me,” said Skylan. “If we sail to the land of the Stormlords seeking the fifth spiritbone, we bring the other four within Aelon's reach.”

“And risk losing them all,” said Aylaen. “Still, that is a risk we must take. Our gods have entrusted us with four of the spiritbones. We
must
find the fifth.”

“We need an army,” said Skylan, drawing her even closer. “I asked Torval to help me convince the Gods of Raj to fight with us. He said he would speak to them, make some sort of bargain.”

“And what would that bargain be, I wonder?” Aylaen asked, her brow furrowed.

Skylan shrugged. “I don't know. They will agree upon something—gold, jewels. Whatever gods consider valuable.”

“I don't think gods value gold and jewels,” Aylaen said, troubled.

Before Skylan could reply, Bear Walker shouted for them.

“Vindrasi! We have made a decision!”

“We must go see if we have an army,” said Skylan.

He and Aylaen were joined by Keeper, Bear Walker and Raven's-foot, and Dela Eden. Aylaen embraced Keeper and said she was glad to see Bear Walker and Raven's-foot again. Skylan introduced Dela Eden, who gazed at Aylaen intently.

Aylaen, for her part, stared at the Cyclopes warriors in shock.

“They all have three eyes!” she whispered to Skylan.

“The third eye is not real,” Skylan returned with seeming nonchalance. “It is only painted.”

“Your gods kept their promise, Vindrasi. We breathe again,” said Dela Eden.

Bear Walker gave a solemn nod while Raven's-foot grunted and rolled his eyes as if to indicate nothing could have surprised him more.

“Our gods have been talking to your gods,” Dela Eden continued. “Your god tells us that Aelon plans to attack the land of the Stormlords and that you need our help to recover the spiritbone now in the keeping of the Stormlords.”

Aylaen and Skylan both stared at her, speechless. The gods of the Vindrasi had kept the spiritbones a secret. Aelon knew about them because of the betrayal of the mad god, Sund. How did the Gods of Raj find out? Skylan could not imagine Torval would have told them. He wondered if he should try to deny it.

“Don't bother,” said Dela Eden. “We know about the spiritbones.”

“How?” Aylaen demanded.

“When the Gods of Raj came to this world, they realized they lacked the power to create. They were not overly concerned. They had much work to do with what was already here, your gods having left the world in such a sorry state. Still, the mystery intrigued them and they set about searching for the answer.”

“Who told them?” Aylaen asked.

“The dragons,” said Dela Eden. “Our people and the dragons have long been on friendly terms. The portal that leads to their world, the Realm of Fire, is located on Mount Joka of our land. It seems that Vindrash swore the dragons to secrecy, but they found out that Vindrash lied to them and they were no longer bound by their oath.”

“So now your gods want the spiritbones for themselves,” said Skylan in grim tones.

“Not really,” said Dela Eden. “When our gods came to this world, they were too busy fighting your gods to notice that they lacked the power to create. Aelon told them he had it and promised to share. The Gods of Raj discovered Aelon was lying, biding his time until he defeated your gods, then he was planning to turn on them. The Gods of Raj want the power of creation, but our gods will not destroy to get it.”

Skylan blinked at this, trying to untangle her words.

Bear Walker cut through the knot and came to the point. “Your gods and our gods agree upon one thing—the power must not fall into the hands of Aelon.”

“Yet you said yourself you were once his ally—” Skylan began heatedly.

Aylaen gave him a sharp jab in the ribs with her elbow and he fell silent.

“We are all agreed on this, I think,” said Dela Eden.

“We are,” said Bear Walker.

“We are,” said Aylaen. “Aren't we, Skylan?”

“I suppose,” said Skylan, still wondering if he could trust them. At this point he didn't have a choice. “Does this mean you will help us fight Aelon?”

“We talked it over,” said Bear Walker, glancing back at his ogre warriors. “Aelon's soldiers killed us once. We want a chance to avenge our deaths.”

Dela Eden added in agreement. “Your gods offered us a bargain. My people and I have accepted. Of course, the decision is up to each one individually, but speaking for myself, I will go with you to fight Aelon.”

Skylan should have been glad to have their help. He had asked Torval and clearly Torval had made some sort of deal with the Gods of Raj. He was tempted to ask what that bargain was, but he feared that would make him look weak, as though he didn't have the confidence of his gods.

He drew Aylaen off to one side, to speak in private. “What do you think we should do?”

“What we have to do,” Aylaen said. “We need their help.”

“What if they try to take the spiritbones for themselves?”

“I suppose that is a risk, but I don't think they will,” Aylaen answered. “The dragons trust them.”

Skylan glanced up at Kahg, caught the faint red glimmer of his half-closed eyes.

“And what about this bargain Torval made?” Skylan asked. “We have no idea what it is.”

“If Torval had wanted us to know, he would have told us,” said Aylaen.

Skylan sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “Our song is missing a great many verses.”

“Better than not being sung at all,” Aylaen told him.

Skylan regarded her fondly. “What did I do to deserve such a wise wife?”

“Not a thing. Because you don't,” said Aylaen with a kiss. “Now go take command of your army.”

Skylan returned to Bear Walker and Dela Eden. “I will be honored to have your courageous warriors join us in battle. The only problem now is how do we sail to the land of the Stormlords? We cannot all fit in one dragonship.”

“There is your answer,” said Aylaen, pointing out to sea.

Four dragonships—the largest dragonships Skylan had ever seen—were sailing toward the island. The Dragon Kahg gave a roar of greeting and the other dragons roared back in return.

“Where do these come from?” Skylan asked.

“Kahg says this is a gift from the dragons,” said Aylaen. “The four dragons will not fight, because they have not forgiven Vindrash for lying to them, but they will carry us across the sea.”

Skylan looked up at the dragon. Kahg's eyes were shining with a fierce red glow.

The ogres and the Cyclopes boarded the dragonships. Although they were not a seafaring people, the Cyclopes were accustomed to dealing with dragons and had no qualms about sailing in a ship guided by a dragon. Skylan assigned Sigurd and Bjorn to the Cyclopes to assist them in the techniques of sailing the unfamiliar dragonship.

The ogres presented a problem. They did not trust the dragons. Many ogres had been attacked by dragons in battles with the Vindrasi and the ogres were not happy about entrusting their lives to the beasts. In addition, the ogres did not like the dragonship itself, declaring it too fragile. Ogres could not swim and they felt safe only on large, hulking ships.

Raven's-foot refused to board and Bear Walker looked grim.

Skylan explained to them that the ogres were far safer in the dragonships than in their own, reminding Bear Walker that in the fight with the kraken, the ogre ship had perished, while the
Venejekar
survived.

Bear Walker at last agreed. All the ogres tromped on board, with the exception of Raven's-foot. The shaman stubbornly refused to come anywhere near a dragon. Bear Walker solved the problem by punching his shaman in the face, knocking him out cold, then ordering his men to carry him on board.

The dragonships were stocked with food and water and even with weapons and shields for the ogres and humans, as well as new bows and arrows for the Cyclopes—gifts from Torval and the Gods of Raj. While the others were stowing their gear, Skylan boarded the
Venejekar
and looked around his ship with a heart filled with pride and eyes blurred by tears.

He looked first at the place on the deck where he had seen his body, carefully tended, loved. The body was gone.

“I need to ask your forgiveness, Skylan,” Farinn said, flushing with shame.

“What for?” Skylan asked. “You have done well in my absence. Aylaen praised you for your courage and your care of her.”

“I thought you were dead,” Farinn confessed. “I wanted to give your body to the sea.”

“
I
thought I was dead,” said Skylan, grinning. “So I can understand your mistake. Do not sing my death song yet.”

He walked to the prow. Kahg's spiritbone was back in its customary place, hanging from its nail. Skylan greeted the dragon and thanked him for his help. The dragon had nothing to say, but his eyes glowed with pleasure.

The only person Skylan had not yet seen was Wulfe. He had assumed he would find him talking with the oceanids, but he wasn't anywhere on deck.

“I think he's afraid you're mad at him. He was the one who took your amulet,” said Aylaen.

“Why would he do that?” Skylan wondered.

“He wanted something to remember you by,” said Aylaen. “I believe you'll find him hiding in the hold.”

Skylan went down into the hold in search of the boy. He found Wulfe crouched on a pile of fishing net, hugging his legs, his chin on his knees.

Skylan sat down beside him.

“Wulfe, I'm not mad—”

Wulfe interrupted him. “Is it true what Aylaen says—that we are sailing to the land of the Stormlords?”

“Yes,” Skylan answered.

Wulfe cringed and hugged his legs closer.

“Why? What is wrong? Are you afraid to go there?” Skylan asked.

“No, yes, maybe,” Wulfe mumbled.

Skylan waited for the boy to explain. When Wulfe remained silent, Skylan stood up.

“Keep your secret then,” he said good-naturedly. “I have work to do. We'll be ready to sail soon—”

“My mother lives there,” Wulfe blurted out.

“With the Stormlords?” Skylan asked, startled.

“Not
with
them, silly. Close by. In the Uncharted Lands, with the rest of my people.”

Skylan didn't understand what the boy meant. He'd never heard of these Uncharted Lands, and he was fairly certain he didn't believe him. If what the boy said was true, then somehow he'd managed to travel halfway around the world to the place near Vindraholm where the druids had found him and where he had found Skylan.

“You could go visit her,” Skylan said, unable to think of anything else to say. He didn't want to hurt Wulfe's feelings. The boy was unhappy enough as it was.