The Final Storm (3 page)
“I will see to it, my Sentinel,” Thrivenbard replied. “With King Eliam as my guide, I will not rest until I find Sir Aelic.”
“Thank you, servant of Alleble,” Kaliam replied. He knew if anyone could find Sir Aelic, Thrivenbard could.
“Never alone!” the Sentinel said.
“Never alone!” Thrivenbard replied as he bowed. Before taking leave, Thrivenbard stopped. “Sir?”
“Yes?”
“Since we have not found Sir Aelic,” Thrivenbard said, choosing his words carefully, “is it possible that he was taken alive as a prisoner of the enemy, as was Lady Antoinette?”
Kaliam turned his back to Thrivenbard and stared out upon the moonlit realm again. “Losing Antoinette to the enemy is already a great blow to our cause. If Paragor has Sir Aelic as well . . .”
Thrivenbard bowed again and walked swiftly from the chamber.
The moon was much lower in the sky when Lady Merewen entered the library and found Kaliam at the window. “How long will you stand there?” she asked in a gentle voice. With great difficulty she lowered her dark hood, and her long silver hair spilled out upon her bandaged shoulders.
“Merewen!” Kaliam turned, and she went to him. Kaliam looked at her and put the back of his hand to her brow. “Your fever has passed! How do you feel?”
“Sir Oswyn says I was fortunate only to have been scratched by one of the Sleepers and not bitten,” she replied, her violet eyes gleaming. “Herbs to treat my wounds are readily available, but not so for a bite. I am to be fine, Kaliam. But I am not sure you can say the same. You look in need of rest.”
“I cannot rest.” He sighed. “I am the Sentinel of this kingdom. I have charges.”
“And you will do your charges no good if you kill yourself with anxiety.”
Kaliam stared west into the night sky. “Paragor has released the Wyrm Lord and the Sleepers from their tombs. Alleble must prepare. Sir Aelic is still lost, and we cannot abandon Lady Antoinette to torment behind the Gate of Despair!” Kaliam’s head fell to his chest. He seemed suddenly aged, burdened with a weight that he could not bear.
Lady Merewen kissed him on his forehead and gently raised his chin. She stared kindly into his dark eyes. “In the midst of my darkest doubt,” she said, “you lifted my chin and told me, ‘Dwell not in dreary chambers of the past!’ You reminded me of the hope that we have as servants of King Eliam. This hope I return to you now. Stare not west where shadows dwell, but upon Alleble and be reminded!”
Kaliam looked down to the Seven Fountains. The moonlight danced in the high plumes of water and mist, and for a moment, his heart was glad. Then he saw the seventh fountain now so long dry, and his hope fled.
“You see,” he said, “even in the most glorious places in Alleble, the enemy’s black touch can be felt! I see below me a place empty and barren, save for memories of pain, despair, and . . . Paragor’s treachery!”
“Nay, m’lord! That is the site of our King’s greatest victory!”
“But Paragor remains. He has brought evils out of legend into his service and amassed at least an army to match our own.”
“King Eliam defeated death!” Lady Merewen said sternly. “Who shall stand against the one who rose again?”
Kaliam and Lady Merewen searched each other’s eyes and in the silence found hope. In the moonlight, they embraced.
Suddenly, a storm of arrows whistled into the nighttime air from the battlements. Alleb Knights scrambled into action below.
“What is there?” Lady Merewen asked.
“A dragon!” Kaliam said. “Ridden by a servant of the enemy.”
“But why would he send a single dragon rider?” Lady Merewen asked. “Against our defenses, that is madness.”
They watched the creature, black against the moon, streak from the sky. Heedless of the hail of arrows, it dove down over the fountains, and then soared almost straight up. It seemed to climb forever. Until, barely visible, it dropped something jet black from its talons.
The object crashed down upon the wide balcony near the Guard’s Keep. Kaliam leaned over the window ledge and gaped down at the balcony. A chill came over him, and he felt his heart falter. “Antoinette,” he whispered. “It is what she saw in her vision.”
Far below, the pristine white marble altar upon which King Eliam sacrificed his life had been smashed. Lying in the countless fragments of marble was a sinister black stone.
Many voices cried out then from below, and more volleys of arrows whistled into the sky from the battlements. “They come again!” someone roared.
Kaliam and Lady Merewen looked up. The sky was filled with innumerable dragons flying almost wingtip to wingtip! They began to break formation and rapidly descend. Again they dove low before surging up above the tallest turrets of the castle.
As the Alleble archers’ arrows found their marks, dragons crashed bodily into the castle walls or slammed to the cobblestone road.
But countless survived, and dark stones fell from the sky like a deadly black hail. They smashed through thatched roofs, cracked walls, and crushed the few Alleb Knights who could not find shelter. When the barrage ended, Alleble’s streets filled with frenzied activity as knights raced from door to door, and Glimpses awakened by the commotion sought to find out what had occurred.
An enormous Glimpse warrior dressed in black fur stormed into Kaliam’s chamber. He had a tremendous hammer in one hand and a large black stone in the other.
“What devilry is this?!” Mallik demanded.
Kaliam grabbed the huge stone. Red markings were gouged into the diameter of the stone.
“A new weapon of the enemy?” Mallik snorted, brandishing his hammer. “It is so like him to attack without warning while we sleep!”
“No, Mallik,” Kaliam replied, looking up from the stone. “It is not a new weapon but rather his oldest and most favored . . . fear. Since his exile, Paragor has chosen his battles, attacking our weaker allies and waylaying our diplomatic missions. But always, he has known his limitations. The attack on Mithegard was different. The armies of King Ravelle were many and skilled, and yet Paragor attacked. Then, with the aid of the ancient evils, he brazenly conquered Clarion and crippled Yewland! These that drop on us now are The Stones of Omen. Paragor has declared his rule over all The Realm. Soon . . . he comes to claim his throne.”
T
he morning sun glinted off the tips of a thousand spears as a caravan of many Glimpses marched out of the west toward Alleble. It was not an invading army from Paragory, and it was not all soldiers. But even so, the advancing multitude caused Kaliam great dread as he watched from a tower near the main gate. He knew the dark blue and gold livery of the heralds to be that of the realm of Mithegard. And Mithegard’s approach could only be another omen of what was brewing.
Kaliam dreaded the arrival of Mithegard’s ruler, the brave King Ravelle, because Aelic was his son. As Kaliam descended the stairs from the tower, he wondered how he would break the news that Aelic was still among the missing.
“Hail and well-met, Sentinel of Alleble!” said King Ravelle as he leaped down from his unicorn and clasped Kaliam’s shoulders. “It is far too long since I have looked upon the Seven Fountains.” And though his words were full of vigor, his face was grim.
“Well-met, indeed!” Kaliam replied, looking out over the line of Glimpses that reached from Alleble’s main gate seemingly to the horizon. “But King Ravelle, why has Mithegard emptied? Or am I mistaken and this is not your entire city?”
“Your eyes do not deceive you, Kaliam. We come seeking refuge—and to add our swords to the forces of Alleble. Though the Seven Towers stand again and our walls are rebuilt, we cannot survive alone in the shadow of the enemy. I bring news of a threat the likes of which The Realm has never seen before.”
“Then much news will be shared,” said Kaliam. “But some news should not wait for the council this evening. As soon as you have marshaled your people within the walls, come to Guard’s Keep.”
“King Ravelle, I am glad you have come,” said Kaliam outside the door to Guard’s Keep.
King Ravelle nodded and followed Kaliam to an alcove down the hall. A single torch flickered on the wall and Kaliam’s face was half in shadow. “I have news that I would not deliver in front of all,” Kaliam said, choosing his words carefully.
“Speak on, Kaliam,” King Ravelle replied. “Do you have word of my son?”
“M’lord, Aelic is among the missing,” Kaliam said. “Some fear the worst, but I believe your son is yet alive. And I have my best knights joining Yewland’s braves in the search.”
“There is much talk of the dark things that occurred in the forests of Yewland. Talk of legends and loss. When I did not see Aelic here—” King Ravelle continued but now with a tremor in his deep voice. He swallowed hard and nodded as he spoke. “I feared worse, Kaliam. May the King of all this Realm guide them in their search.”
A massive fire crackled in the corner of the chamber within Guard’s Keep. Kaliam, King Ravelle, Lady Merewen, Mallik, Farix, Rogan, and many others from Alleble and Mithegard were seated around the huge table inside the chamber, awaiting the start of the council.
At last, Kaliam stood and said, “King Ravelle, trusted friends from Mithegard, welcome to our kingdom—and into the confidence of the Elder Guard! You have no doubt heard much rumor about the events that occurred in the forests of Yewland. It is time you hear the full tale.”
For more than an hour, Kaliam chronicled everything that had happened. The Glimpses from Mithegard were horrified to learn about the Wyrm Lord and the Seven Sleepers, about the devastation the ancient creature had caused in Clarion and on the Forest Road. As they listened, the Mithegardian Glimpses slumped back in their chairs, afraid.
Then the King of Mithegard stood and addressed the gathering. “Worthy Knights of Alleble, the news of our enemy bringing ancient horrors to life is grievous indeed. But especially so in light of what I must share: My countrymen have come to seek shelter within your walls. We fled our home because Paragor is now mustering an army, a fraction of which would overwhelm the city of Seven Towers.”
“How does he manage such a force?” Mallik spoke his thought aloud.
“Long has the enemy hidden his true strength,” Kaliam explained. “In the catacombs beneath his city and in the hollows of the dark mountains, there are captives from Paragor’s conquests . . . but there are also descendants from the brood that led the rebellion against King Eliam that fateful night.”
“But that is not his only source,” said King Ravelle. “You see, after the attack that destroyed my city, I have kept a constant network of spies coming and going into the enemy’s dark realm. Paragor’s force has more than tripled, due to a steady stream of soldiers from the far west.”
The council was stunned into silence.
“Paragor has dared to cross the Cauldron Sea. He has made alliances with Frostland, Inferness, and Candleforge—for my spies have seen their colors enter the dark land.”
Sir Rogan slammed a fist on the table. Mallik stood up and growled, “This cannot be! Frostland, Inferness? Those places have been our allies of old!”