Return of the Dragon (The Dragon's Champion Book 6) (16 page)

In those moments he tried to focus on Lepkin. He tried
to force himself to push on and act more like he knew Master Lepkin would in
his place. It didn’t make it easy, but it made it possible for Erik to continue
putting one foot in front of the other.

Then came a day he hoped would not come. His
wanderings had somehow taken him back to the place where Tatev had been killed.
The camp and all of the structures were gone now, save for the pit and the large
timber that jutted up out from the pile of ash like a grotesque monument to
Tatev’s murder.

Erik surveyed the area and saw that each of the more
permanent buildings had been razed by fire. There was nothing left but ash and
snow. The young man walked toward the fire pit and looked down. His eyes could
see only a dip in the snow where the pit went down into the dirt, but his mind
replayed the entire scene for him in every vivid detail. The men chanting and
gyrating as Tatev was bound and sacrificed to some pagan god. Erik drew his
sword and moved toward the standing pillar of burnt wood. In his anger and
grief he hacked at it with his sword.

Charred bits of wood exploded out from the pillar in
clouds of black ash and soot. Erik put more and more effort into each swing
until finally the pillar cracked and the top half broke and fell to the ground.

“Does that make you feel better?” Tatev asked from
behind.

Erik turned and nodded dumbly. “A bit, actually,” he
said. He stabbed his sword into the pile of frosted ash and folded his arms. “I
am sorry,” he said.

“I told you before, Erik, it was my time.” Tatev
offered that reassuring smile of his and at last Erik could see that Tatev held
no ill will toward him. There was no blame in the ghost’s eyes. There was only
compassion. “Before we found you at the mouth of the cave, I had a vision.”
Tatev shrugged. “Visions are usually reserved for others in the order, not for
the librarian. Still, I know what I saw. I knew I would die along our journey.”

Erik ripped his sword free from the ash only to sheath
it and walk up to Tatev in a huff. “Then why come with me?” he asked
incredulously.

Tatev smiled wider.
“Because my
vision was two parts.
One showed me my death was sure if I traveled with
you, but the other part was worse. It showed me that if any other besides me
went with you, or if you went alone, then you would die. I could not let the
Champion of Truth fall. The whole world would then be at the mercy of that
wretched book!”

Erik shook his head. “You died for nothing!” Erik
screamed. “I am not the champion. I am just a boy.”

Tatev shook his head. “No you aren’t,” he said
adamantly. “You are the champion.”

“You don’t understand,” Erik continued. “The Immortal
Mystic said I am not the one he saw in
the prophesies
.
I am an imposter.”

Tatev shouted, “No!” and a great burst of thunder
shook the sky. “You are the champion!”

“How can you not see it?” Erik asked in a whisper.

Tatev moved in close. “If you are to win, there can be
no doubt left in your heart.”

“How do you propose to fix that?” Erik asked.

Tatev pointed to Erik’s pocket. “You have the Tear of
Goresym in your
pocket,
I can see its energy radiating
out from within your clothes.”

Erik reached in and pulled the blue crystal out. It
still appeared to him nothing more than a sparkly bobble. “You mean this?”

Tatev nodded. “It is a powerful
relic,
I assume the Immortal Mystic is the one who gave it to you, am I correct?”

“Yes,” Erik replied.

“I told you that ghosts appear infrequently yes, that
they only can be seen in times of great need or if one has developed the skill.
Well, this is a time of great need, Erik. You are the champion and yet it is
you
who
are blind. You are letting your doubt and grief defeat you before you have even
set foot on the field of battle. This is unacceptable.”

“You don’t understand,” Erik interjected.

Tatev cut him off. “It is
you
who
does not understand. Give me the crystal.” Tatev held out a hand.

Erik shook his head. “You can’t hold it,” he said.
“You are a ghost, remember?”

Tatev stepped forward and reached out so quickly Erik
couldn’t react. The ghostly hand whiffed
through his own,
leaving a cold feeling as it passed through. Then the crystal was taken from
him and Erik gasped when Tatev held the blue crystal and a great light started
to grow from deep within it. “Now you will see the truth.”

A great cloud formed overhead as a blue streak of
lightning shot into the sky from the crystal.

“What are you doing?” Erik looked up to the sky and
put an arm up to shield himself from a sudden burst of wind that flurried the
snow and nearly hid Tatev from his view.

“Prepare yourself, Erik!”

A black bolt of lightning crashed down to the ground.
Tatev disappeared, leaving the blue crystal hovering and spinning in the air.
Another form stood nearby, laughing and holding an axe.

“So, we meet again, young Erik.”

The voice was familiar. Erik peered through the snow
to see Janik. The man was standing confidently, smiling and twirling his axe.

Erik looked to the man’s wrist and noticed it was no
longer disfigured. When Janik stepped forward, he didn’t limp either.

“What is it, Erik?
Nothing smart to
say?”

Erik drew his sword. Flames covered the black, Telarian
steel with hardly a thought from the young man.

“You have no dwarf here to protect you today,” Janik
said. “Now I will finish what I started.

The two ran toward each other. Janik sent a powerful
spell at Erik, but Erik dodged left and then came in with a horizontal chop of
his sword. Janik nimbly flipped over the swing and countered with his axe. Erik
jerked his arms back and managed to catch the axe with his blade. Erik had no
way of understanding why it was happening, but the shock he received when the weapons
collided told him that this was a real battle.

Erik sprang away and readied his sword. Janik laughed
and pressed the attack. He swung downward in a diagonal chop, then reversed his
swing and drew his blade out to the side. Erik managed to escape both and then
countered with a quick jab. The point of his sword tore into Janik’s flesh, but
Janik recoiled before the sword could do more than cause a minor gash. The
flame from the blade left a smoldering mark on Janik’s tunic and chest, but the
man didn’t seem to notice.

“You have improved,” Janik noted. “But you are no
match for me.”

Erik saw through the man’s lie. The champion’s gift
told him that Janik was lying. Erik’s confidence soared. He stepped forward,
careful to note each of Janik’s movements. Janik swung furiously, but Erik
parried every strike. Then, after he pressed in close enough to force Janik to
take a couple steps backward Erik launched into an attack. He jabbed forward,
then
swept his sword at Janik’s stomach. Janik smacked down
with his axe and shot his hips out behind him, exactly as Erik had hoped. The
young champion sent a savage snap kick to Janik’s face. The man’s head jerked
upward and his nose leaked blood. Erik then plunged his sword deep into the
man’s chest.

A flash of lightning struck Janik and he cried in
agony as his spirit disappeared.

Another bolt struck the ground nearby.

A man with a dark, hooded robe stood and smiled. A
bony, pale hand reached up and pulled back the hood to reveal Tukai, the
warlock.

“A most impressive display, but you are a fool to
summon me here, boy,” Tukai said. “Your sword will do you little good here.”
Tukai sent a fireball hurtling toward Erik, but Erik raised his sword and cut
through the spell as he had seen Lepkin do in the previous battle with Tukai.
“Try this one, then,” Tukai taunted. He clapped his hands together and a
massive wall of air slammed into Erik, flipping him end over end to land
several yards away. When he shook his face free of the snow he realized that
his sword was nowhere near him.

Erik pushed himself up quickly and dodged another
series of fireballs that sailed at him.

“Dance little champion, dance!”

Erik’s mind raced. He couldn’t see the sword anywhere.
He had no other weapons on him. Then, a moment of calm clarity overcame him and
he smiled at the warlock. He didn’t need to have a weapon
on
him.
He had one
inside
. Erik sprinted straight for Tukai. The warlock
laughed and gathered a massive, green ball of flame between his hands.

“Time to send you to meet your
father, boy!”
Tukai shouted. The fireball flew on its trajectory,
spinning and crackling as it soared ever closer to Erik.

Erik ran on, undaunted. He gathered his power and let
it build within his chest. The fireball came within ten feet and then Erik
released his power. A column of bright, white light streamed out from Erik’s
mouth. It pierced the fireball and blasted it apart before continuing on to
strike Tukai in the face. The warlock flipped over backward and landed face
down in the snow. Erik continued sprinting toward the warlock and before the
foe could clamber up to his feet Erik was upon him. The young champion leapt
atop Tukai’s back and drove a furious fist down into the base of the warlock’s
neck. Tukai’s head snapped down to slam into the ground. Erik continued beating
on him relentlessly as he gathered his power for another shot.

A sudden burst of energy knocked Erik to the ground
and Tukai rose into the air.

“Clever, but that will not be enough!” Tukai shouted.

Erik didn’t hesitate. He sent another column of light
at the warlock, striking Tukai in the center of the chest. The warlock shouted
out in pain as Erik poured all of his energy into the light. As he focused his
power, the light burned bright orange and within seconds it had bored through
Tukai’s chest and shot out into the sky behind the writhing warlock.

“How?”
Tukai asked as his
face drained and his limbs went limp.

Another bolt of black lightning came down, removing
Tukai.

Erik shut off his power and pushed up to his feet. He
was breathing heavily now, and his senses burned with the heat of battle. No
longer did doubt swirl in his mind. He was wholly in the moment, prepared to
handle whatever was to come next.

A thick bolt of gray lightning struck the ground
twenty yards away, but with enough force that the ground shook.

“Erik, has it been so long?” A man stepped out from
the smoke wearing white robes with purple stripes around the sleeves. It was
the warlock Gondok’hr, the fiend who had masqueraded as Senator Bracken and was
responsible for Erik’s father’s death. “You struck me down in my sleep,” the
warlock said. “I won’t be so easy this time around.”

The warlock transformed from his human body and took
on that of a fiendish demon with spikes like granite jutting out from his
shoulders, terribly long talons extending out from his fingers, and wicked
fangs protruding out from the grotesque mouth. “Now you must fight me in my
true form.”

If Erik had felt any fear while watching the warlock
transform, it was dispelled as soon as he heard those words. “Then I shall take
on
my
true form,” Erik said. He didn’t think about what he
was saying. He didn’t think about the ramifications of shifting earlier than
his time. He made the choice, and transformed as was natural for any Sahale.

A great ball of fire encircled him, shielding him from
the warlock’s attack while his body shifted and changed. His bones snapped and
elongated. Pain rippled through his body, but so too did power and strength.
Great wings developed over his widening back and he let out a mighty roar that
shook the ground and caused the warlock to tremble before him.

When the fire dissipated, Erik stood high over the
puny warlock. He looked down at him through wise eyes the size of shields. A
puff of smoke flew out from his slender snout and he flicked his forked tongue
out over his sharp fangs.

“I can taste your fear, warlock,” Erik said.

The warlock sent spell after spell, but Erik leapt
this way and that, dodging each with blinding speed. He then sprang into the
air and whipped his tail under his body to slam into the warlock. The frail
creature was sent sailing through the air to land nearly one hundred yards away
in a crumpled heap. Erik then sent a gargantuan sphere of fire to consume the
warlock’s body. It had barely reached the creature when the tell-tale black
bolt of lightning struck and the warlock was gone.

Erik turned to regard the blue crystal again. It now
looked so tiny to him. With his dragon form he could hear the crystal emitting
a sweet melody along with the light. At once he understood the magic that had
formed it, and he comprehended its purpose. In an instant he transformed back
into his normal body. The blue crystal ceased to glow and it fell to the
ground. Erik pulled his clothes tighter around him.