Dragon Alliance Dark Storm : Dark Storm (64 page)

“Yes, that would be good; you need more help in our Keystone Weir, especially after this last battle,” Becknor responded with a smile but was then diverted as they came out of the senate structure and saw the confrontation between the mithril knights and the Enlightened security forces, who were claiming that they had jurisdiction over Senator Nebelon. As the argument became heated, the senator turned pale and collapsed; he then began convulsing violently. The dragon knights immediately formed a protective circle around him, and the healer in their rank tried to treat him. He even jolted his chest with his shock rod, but to no avail, the senator was dead within seconds. Becknor and Therosvet immediately walked over to them with Michenth and Valianth right behind them. His body was quickly examined for any wounds. None were found; however, as Michenth lowered his head to the senator’s body, he stated that he had been poisoned with a particularly toxic viper venom native to the Shidanese area.

Therosvet asked how this could be with no puncture wounds. Michenth stated that all that was needed for this poison to be effective was mere contact with the skin. They quickly theorized that the POEs were covering their tracks very well, as the rule of assassinations was to kill the assassin and all his associates. One of the mithril knights said he remembered that Senator Terrjok had put his hand on Nebelon’s neck and shoulder with his ring turned around, but the ring was handed off to an associate. He confirmed this with his dragonstone’s memory view. He immediately put the image out to all the knights of the order and the Draconia Police. Becknor said the ring had likely already transferred hands three times and the aide was dead. Becknor told all the Weirleaders that from then on they were to be extra cautious, especially when dealing with the Enlightened. They were stooping to new levels of evil and deceit.

The next two weeks went by quickly with all preparing for the strike against Shidan. From Draden, it would only involve the two dragons and riders, the weir council, and the rangers, nothing overly complicated. Mkel did not want the garrison so quickly called to battle again after the fight they had recently had. This day was different, however, for he was taking Crystinj to Atlean for her potential bonding. She was very nervous, but Mkel and Gallanth managed to calm her down. As they emerged over the shore beside the massive Atlean weir mountain, Mkel noticed the cooler late fall ocean air.
This
will
likely
be
a
cold
winter
, Mkel thought, as Gallanth slowly glided toward the entrance to the fortress. He was looking forward to seeing Bkert, for he hadn’t spoken to him since the Honors Day Games. The senate meeting was too busy and emotionally charged to talk and not the place.

Gallanth’s greeting roar was answered by the weir sentinel as he flew in through the entrance. As Atlean was second only in size to the Capital Weir, Mkel looked around at the shear immense space of its interior. The second largest complement of metallics in the Alliance was housed there, and his friend’s dragon, Rapierth, led them with an iron will. He could see Bkert and his large bronze dragon walking toward them as Gallanth back-winged. Mkel quickly dismounted his dragon and walked over to meet his friend, as Rapierth bowed in his greeting to Gallanth.

“Mkel, glad to see you alive, my friend,” the tall dragonrider said to his friend as he gave him a hug. “A hell of a fight again. They aren’t giving Draden Weir much of a break, are they? We could use some of that action here. That last pirate attack was a joke. They tried to run after only minutes into the fight. It was hardly a challenge, and now General Becknor and Colonel Therosvet are going to keep almost all of Atlean back from this monumental strike. We lost a dragonrider to an assassin’s poison blade and want retribution, but at this rate, we will never see a challenging fight.”

“Sometimes, an easy fight is better, my friend. Trust me. If Michenth and Becknor want you to stay behind as the Alliance reserve, there is likely some reason for it,” Mkel answered his longtime friend with a quick, serious look.

“Well, what a lovely candidate for our newest dragon,” Bkert said as Crystinj dismounted Gallanth with her backpack and her crossbow, for she would be staying at Atlean for a couple of weeks if she bonded and then over a year at the Capital Weir as they received their training. Only afterward would they then rejoin Draden Weir. “I wish you the best of luck, my dear,” Bkert said with his normal wide smile.

“Thank you, sir, I am nervous about the ceremony but looking forward to it,” the young soldier answered.

“We should be going, for the egg will be ready to hatch soon,” Rapierth stated as they all turned toward the hatching area. They arrived just in time to get Crystinj changed into the ceremonial blue dress and have the attendants move her and the three other candidates to the large brass-colored egg. The weir’s wizard, Shaltor, was standing to the side of the egg in front of the applicants, along with the leader of the local sea elf clan, the mountain and thunder giant clan leaders, and the senior latouc and its rider. Many other legion and battalion commanders were in attendance as well.
What
a
diverse
crowd
here
at
Atlean,
but
then
just
look
at
Draden
Weir
with
its
elf
and
dwarf
contingents,
Mkel thought.

Mkel then noticed the dragonstone in Kershan starting to glow; the stone in Markthrea, which was slung over his back, also began to shine. The female brass dragon raised her head; her eyes were glowing as well. “The egg is ready to hatch, my rider,” Gallanth spoke out softly, but loud enough for all gathered to hear. The crowd became quiet as the candidates tensed. Crystinj looked back to Mkel and Gallanth, who both nodded to her. Mkel had told her that if Gallanth had a feeling regarding the bonding they would give her a signal to prepare herself. Mkel held the blue cable, which was attached to the young lady’s waist, a little tighter.

At that moment, the large egg cracked and then rocked and cracked again. A shard broke off, and a brilliant beam of light emerged from the egg. Another shard then flew off, emitting more light, and the female brass dragon leaned toward the egg. Mkel could not hear her silent words, but he was pretty sure that she was telepathically giving her daughter encouragement to crack the shell and emerge. As the egg rocked harder, a long fissure appeared along the top and side, soon followed by several more all over the smooth brass surface. In a loud, cracking sound, the egg shell burst open and shattered; the whole crowd had to divert their eyes from the blinding light that filled that part of the weir. As the light subsided, the brass hatchling raised her head and let out a warble type of roar, as she announced her coming into the world and the magic and power she would bring.

Gallanth and all the dragons present lifted their heads and roared in celebration; the echoes of the combined bellows were almost deafening. The little hatchling stretched her wings and tail out. Mkel was also amazed at how small she was—still just over fifteen feet long, with her wingspan at roughly twenty-five feet, making her slightly smaller than a hippogriff. As the brass egg was a third the size of the one that Silvanth would lay, the baby dragon looked very tiny to him. He did know that hatchlings grew at an incredible rate and that she would be fully grown in a year or two.

The brass hatchling then looked around to find the candidates from which she would choose her first rider, the person with whom she would soul bond. She wobbled, somewhat unsteadily toward the girls gathered before her, all in their customary blue dresses. As she made her way to them, one of the young women stepped toward her. The brass hatchling hissed, raised her left front leg, and knocked her back, sending her tumbling and rolling away. This surprised Mkel until Bkert leaned over and told him that the girl was the spoiled daughter of a local Enlightened official and guild owner, who demanded to have her included in the selection. Shaltor had convinced Rapierth to allow it to demonstrate to them that dragons had their own sense of worth.

The hatchling then stood in front of the remaining women, who were now a little more anxious after the brass newborn swept away one of their numbers. Her eyes flashed as she looked at each of the girls; Mkel knew she was reading their souls. As the glow in her eyes faded to normal, she shifted slightly, raised her right talon, and cut the cable Mkel was holding. The brass hatchling then with a swift and surprisingly deft swipe, made a shallow cut just above Crystinj’s left breast. The young woman winced but stood her ground as the hatchling pierced her own talon pad and placed it over the girl’s wound, the green-blue blood immediately staunched the bleeding and entered the razor like cut. Crystinj’s body started to shake almost uncontrollably as Shaltor waved his wizard’s staff over her. The eyes of all the dragons present started to glow. At the point where Mkel thought that his young friend was not going to survive the bonding, she stopped shaking. The dragons’ eyes ceased glowing, and Shaltor moved away from her.

“I have chosen you, Crystinj, as my rider,” the hatchling said out loud.

“Kearideth, my beautiful dragon, I hear you; we are one,” Crystinj said just before they both recited the dragonrider’s oath. The dragons again roared in celebration, and all gathered yelled and applauded. Mkel felt tears come down his cheeks in his joy over his soldier, his shooting pupil, his friend, becoming a dragonrider. Bkert came over and hugged him in congratulations. Mkel then walked over to Crystinj and hugged her, as Gallanth lowered his massive head and welcomed the new dragon to Draden Weir and also to make sure that she didn’t accidently harm his rider.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am for you. I knew you had a good soul and were of the right mettle and heart to be a dragonrider. I can’t wait until you two are soaring by my and Gallanth’s side. I will be honored to have you as my wing second,” he told her. She hugged him again.

“Thank you, sir. Thank you for everything—for teaching me to shoot, for giving me this chance to bond, for everything,” she replied tears in her eyes as well. She hugged him one more time before she walked over beside her dragon. Kearideth’s mother then escorted them to the hatchling area where a freshly killed steer awaited the baby dragon. She would be eating constantly for the next several months as her dragon parents instilled in them all their knowledge and taught her to fly. Once she achieved this milestone, the new dragon and rider pair would be sent to the Capital Weir for more instruction, on flying, fighting, spell use, teleporting, and more before they would be allowed to go back to Draden Weir.

“Come on, my friend. It’s time to celebrate. I have the ale ready,” Bkert said to Mkel, beaming his toothy smile. Mkel and his friend then proceeded to the Atlean Weir tavern to toast new life and new magic.

A month had passed since Crystinj’s bonding before General Becknor and Michenth called for the weirs to gather for the strike. Gallanth emerged in the dim twilight off the west shore of the prison island with the Draden Weir council mounts and the ranger platoon closely spaced around him. It was almost totally dark, as the west coast was several hours behind Draden, but they already had their dragonstone mithril crystal visors on to allow them to see in the limited visibility. The early winter ocean breeze was cold, but Mkel’s heating crystal in the back of his jacket quickly warmed him. He and Gallanth had not yet put their shields up, for they wanted to conserve strength for the attack. Valianth and the Capital Wing were already assembled and in the center of the massive formation. Mkel looked all around them as the weirs’ wings were starting to form up.

They had to turn to the left to get in beside the Eladran and High Mountain Weir dragon squadrons, as the other weirs shifted to the right. There were over two hundred dragons in the air and thousands of smaller flying mounts from the aerial legion and all the weirs’ smaller flying battalions or squadrons. Draden’s contingent was the smallest by far, with Rom and Rem Weirs’ being just slightly larger. However, Mkel knew his weir was the most feared because of the power of Gallanth, his crossbow, and his council members with their dragonstone weapons. Mkel looked at the images his seeing crystal projected of the massive size of this formation. He had never seen this many dragons in the air ready for battle at one time in his life. He felt that they could just fly to Aserghul and wipe it off the face of the earth, that nothing could stand up to this assembled force.

Becknor’s call from atop Valianth behind Therosvet woke him from his thoughts. The image of the area above the ocean off the coast of Shidan came through the crystal. There was a covert section of boats, manned by a select group of some of the navy’s best sailors and trident naval infantry, floating in that particular part of the ocean. As soon as the images were acknowledged across the formation, the whole aerial strike force teleported out. They all emerged in the predawn dark over the ocean. Mkel immediately noted the temperature difference in this part of the world, so far east and south. All the dragons immediately raised their shields and became invisible. They extended their protection and cloaking to all around them. Mkel could see the Alliance spy boats below him, and then he looked through Markthrea’s sight toward the distant Shidanese coastline. He could see the torches on the defensive ramparts and walls along the mouth of the Sigrit River that led a hundred miles to the Shidanese capital Dagrad.

Becknor quickly signaled everyone that he was about to give his last instructions. He verified that Draden, Eladran, and High Mountain were going to strike the Black Scarab fortress far to the north, the Capital Wing and Aerial squadrons were hitting the palace and Shidanese army forts in Dagrad, and all remaining weirs were to reduce the coastal defenses.”