Draconis' Bane (44 page)

In fact, it looked
brand new. Tristan searched around for a door but couldn’t find
one; the building seemed solid on all four walls. He looked around
for something to bash against the wall, finding nothing but broken
beams and rocks he picked up the largest rock he could and launched
it against the building wall. The rock exploded on contact, sending
painful pebbles flying back at him.

“Grandfather!”
Tristan called.

Draconis ambled over,
his steps causing a few rocks to fall from their precarious
balancing act on top of what remained of the palace. Tristan
chuckled to himself.

“If you wouldn’t
mind?” Tristan asked, indicating the solid building.

The large silver
dragon looked closely at the building, investigating the magic
involved and sniffing, which Tristan found odd. Eventually the old
dragon was satisfied as he turned around and swung his tail with
all his might, blasting the top of the building clean off.

“Protection’s only on
the walls.” Draconis chuckled.

Tristan rolled his
eyes, chuckling as he climbed up onto the building wall and looked
down into it. A large black gem, roughly ten feet across and six
feet in height glowed with an eerie grey hue. He called over his
cousin and sister, who climbed up on the wall with him. As all four
of them became lost in thought, Tristan began to wonder how he was
to destroy something so big.

“Grandpa could toss
it off the cliff…” Euri suggested.

William drew one of
his daggers and threw it at the crystal. It ricocheted off of the
giant gem and a low moan that made them all feel quite dirty and
ill at ease echoed out of the crystal.

“Don’t do that
again.” Draconis instructed needlessly with a smirk.

A thought must have
occurred to Euri because she pulled out her staff and touched it to
the surface of the crystal. Immediately it began to glow brighter,
changing to a white glow, and then golden. The top of her staff
glowed brighter than the rest and a pillar of light shot out of it
into the heavens.

Tristan drew his
sword, reversed his grip on it and touched the tip of his sword to
the gem. He felt a strange vibration travel up his arm and outward
from him as a similar golden light shot from the hilt of his sword.
Wave after wave of a euphoric joy filled him. The two of them stood
there for hours, the gem getting smaller and smaller by the minute.
Finally, Tristan leapt into the building and drove his sword into
what was left of the crystal. It shattered into tiny pieces which
smoked and sizzled as they vanished. William held out Euri’s staff
and Tristan used it to get back out of the building.

When Tristan was back
on the wall he looked at Draconis. The great silver dragon was
sparkling in the sunlight, almost too bright to look at. Gone were
the dull plates Tristan had gotten used to seeing. Each plate on
the dragons’ body gleamed as if they had just been polished by the
sun itself.

Draconis reared back
and let loose a roar, it was a happy note, filled with
possibilities and hope. On the distant horizon the three of them
could hear roars from other dragons all over the world. Tristan
sighed in relief, causing William and Eurydice to laugh with joy.
Then the Prince’s eyes rolled up in his head and he fell backwards
off of the building.

“How long has he been
like this?” A familiar deep voice asked.

If Tristan had the
strength he would have rolled his eyes and groaned. Instead he
forced his eyes open and then groaned anyway as the brilliance of
the day assaulted his eyes. He squinted again, trying to open his
eyes a little slower. He was again in his room in Metao, staring up
at the ceiling above his four post bed.

“Only a few hours.”
Replied another familiar voice.

Tristan recognized
both voices as he forced the grogginess from his head; the first
was his older brother and the second, his father. He sat up slowly,
still in a great deal of pain and turned in bed. He slowly sat up
on the edge of the bed, allowing his feet to rest on the floor. He
rubbed his eyes, still trying to get his bearings as the air was
knocked out of him as Eurydice collided with his stomach. Over the
last year she had grown into a fine young woman, though Tristan was
sure she was unaware of how much taller and stronger she was since
the last time she’d hugged him so fiercely. Despite the pain his
was in, her exuberance made him smile.

“Euri!” His mother
scolded from her chair at the side of his bed.

Tristan laughed.
“It’s fine.” He croaked. “That makes every part of me that hurts
now.” He groaned dramatically to everyone’s amusement.

“How are you
feeling?” His father asked.

“Ill-used.” Tristan
replied.

“You’ll live.” Kevin
shot.

Tristan stretched,
pulling at sore muscles along his ribs. His shoulder was tight and
just moving it backwards shot pain through his body. The last thing
he could remember is falling off the side of the building after
destroying the last of the Atacamite crystal.

“What happened?”
Tristan asked.

“You passed out.”
Lesa called from the doorway, laughing. “Again.”

Tristan looked over
at the door as the young woman in gold held her arm up playfully
displaying the hole through her sleeve and the healed skin below.
He was forced to laugh, which only served to add to the throbbing
pain in his body and caused him to flinch and cough slightly.

“Now Tristan, have we
taught you nothing?” Otis said as he walked up behind Lesa and
placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Focus lad, pain is
only a state of mind.” He said with a smirk and a wink.

Everyone in the room
laughed in reply, as Euri finally released her iron grip around
Tristan’s waist. The two dragons in human form moved into the room
followed by a man of middle years. The man was dressed head to toe
in a silver robe with a high collar, from neck to waist, the robe
was close fitting, though the lower half of the robe was loose and
swept the floor as he moved into the room. His eyes shone violet in
the sunlight and the Prince instantly knew who the stranger
was.

“Hello grandfather.”
Tristan smiled crookedly.

The man nodded his
head in greeting. “You do us all proud young man.” He
complimented.

The King stepped
forward and placed his hand on his wife’s shoulder.

“That he has.” He
turned his head to his eldest son and asked. “Think he’s
ready?”

Kevin chuckled,
looking at his younger brother. “Oh definitely.” He replied.

Tristan looked from
his father to his brother, confusion clearly showing in his
eyes.

“Ready for what?” He
asked uncertainly.

Dion laughed, “Give
it to him.” He instructed Kevin.

Kevin stepped forward
and handed Tristan a rolled up piece of parchment. The Prince
unrolled it slowly, seeing his family crest at the top. He began to
reading it to himself and after the first couple of lines he looked
up at his father.

“Are you crazy?” He
blurted.

“Hardly.” Dion
answered with a smile.

Tristan looked back
at the parchment and read aloud; “I, Dion Vallious, King of
Vallius, and Steward of Terum hereby grant Stewardship of the
Vallius province of Terum to Prince Tristan Vallious…”

His voice faded out
as the impact of the proclamation of his appointment sunk in.
Slowly he looked up at his smiling family, completely lost for
words. His father stepped forward and placed his hands on Tristan’s
shoulders.

“In a few years your
mother and I will retire to our estates and leave the ruling of
Vallius to your older brother.” He explained. “I can think of no
better neighbor than his own brother.”

The King stood and
motioned for Kevin to walk over and join them as Tristan pushed
himself up and off his mattress to stand with his brother in front
of their father. Dion put his hand on both their shoulders and
looked each of them in turn in the eyes.

“It will start here
my sons. We will drive out the remnants of the
Bane
; bring
peace to the region and hopefully your children…” He looked
meaningfully at both of his sons. “Will grow up in a peace we’ve
not had since man came to this world.” The King pronounced
finally.

Kevin looked at his
younger brother, smiling, but blushing slightly. Tristan noticed
out of the corner of his eye that Alison held both arms over her
stomach self-consciously. The young Prince returned his brothers
grin.

“Now.” The King said,
looking hard at Tristan, suddenly serious. “When are you going to
stop lying about and go home?”

Countries

Vallius
– a
peaceful large kingdom, primary businesses include ship building,
forestation and fine jewel crafters.

Terum
– a
country with rich soil unused in recent years as the former King
called all sons to service in the army.

Guis
– a
kingdom of quiet introspective people, heavy into art of all kinds,
music and literature.

Malus
– a
kingdom with a vast mountain range to the north they mine heavily
for arms and armor production, they also protect Guis who make
magically endowed jewelry for them.

Sutten
– no
King, just a loose alliance of farmers and peasants who live in a
Clan structure, each clan takes its turn administering one of the
four cities for three years.

Oceana
– the
best navy on the continent, in an alliance with all of the
countries south of the Great Expanse.

The Great Expanse
– East
; nomadic tribes of savages who only band together to
fight the west who have been trying for 200 years to bring the
entire Expanse under their command.

The Great Expanse
– West
; a kingdom of rich farmland and bountiful forests,
largely a wild area with villages and cities built like Forts to
keep the animals and Eastland Savages at bay.

Deus
– an
island of sorcerers and a rather large school devoted to the
magical arts, not much is known about the island or its
inhabitants.

Patron Dragons

In olden times each
country paid homage to their patron dragon. Not a King or a ruler,
just a dragon benefactor of each nation. Each country reflected the
splendor of their patron dragon and went to war as the dragons
warred. For over 1,000 years there was peace between the mighty
dragons, and thusly there was peace between their nations. These
are the dragon patrons of each nation.

Silver Dragon
– Draconis (Drake) - patron of Vallius, oldest of the dragons and
their King, lives in the mountainous region near Teris Pass.

Bronze Dragon
–
Lesariu (Lesa) – patron of Guis, a large golden serpent-like
dragon, lives in the great dunes to the south-east.

Blue Dragon
–
Raithia (Ruth) – patron of Oceana, a large powerfully built dragon
with a horn protruding from the center of its head, lives in the
caves on the islands surrounding the Oceanic coast.

Red Dragon
–
Kumanius – patron of Terum, second only in size to Draconis and
similar in appearance, though possesses a shorter neck and smaller
wings, used to live along the west coast in the cliffs looking out
into the sea. –
deceased
.

White Dragon
–
Socolis (Otis) – patron of Sutten, smallest of the great dragons
but very quick and cunning in warfare, lives in the vast forests of
Sutten.

Green Dragon
–
Ryanite – patron of Malus, has long green snout like an alligator,
large wings and able to fly vast distances, used to live in a vast
cave beneath a waterfall that fed The Great River into the Careless
Sea. –
deceased
.

Black Dragon
–
Henjis (Ben) – patron of The Great Expanse, most knowledgeable of
the dragons, often pilgrims would travel for years for the chance
to learn from him. He used to live inside the cliffs to the south
of the Eastern Expanse. –
deceased
.

Cities and
Villages

Metao, Vallius
–a harbor city of over 200,000 people, housing a large navy and
construction facilities along the harbor. A large portion of the
population serves in the military, work in the castle or tends the
fields and ranches around the city.

Kenting,
Vallius
– Kevins’ border keep town, 20,000 soldiers and 30,000
citizens.

Irudin,
Vallius
– the “Crossroad of the Kingdom”, all main roads run
through Irudin which is overseen by the brother of Kevin’s deceased
mother, a very experienced patrician and leader. Over 100,000
citizens including the soldiers and nearby farmers, Irudin is the
commercial capital of Vallius.