Chapter 21

Not far from the battlefield, but out of sight from even the elves, Aragorn spotted a small patch of herbs that he needed. He bent over and began to cut off some of the leaves with his sword. He heard something snap behind him. He turned and almost dropped his sword. Towering above him was a white dragon. The dragon had silver horns that lined the bottom edges of his jaw, except at the tip, where a silvery beard was growing. Gold horns grew out of the back of his head (where a triceratops's frill grows), looking very much like a pushed-back crown. Its claws were also golden. It had blue eyes that looked very wise. It had an all-about royal look to it. Aragorn simply stared in shock. He'd heard of this dragon from Terrico. It was an Empieza Dragon, also known as a Legendary Imperial Dragon. It is said that this dragon is one-of-a-kind, appearing only to kings. The dragon looked down at Aragorn. "I am Griften." Aragorn, for no apparent reason, bowed to it. "I am Aragorn." The dragon gave a single downward nod with its head, a sign of respect for dragons. A quick, upward nod was a greeting, like waving your hand. The dragon looked at the herbs. "You have a friend who is in danger of death?" "Yes, she was wounded by a goblin mage. She means a lot to a friend of mine, and she means a lot to me. She studied dragons and if not for her alliance with them, we probably would not have defeated the goblin and orc armies that we did." Griften nodded. "She is the tamer of the balrog, is she not? I know of her. She is a mage herself. We should go back to her." Aragorn was surprised that the dragon knew of Balen, but figured that the dragon probably had some way of learning whatever it needed to know. On the way back, Griften told Aragorn about himself and why he was drawn to him. He told Aragorn that Empieza Dragons will be drawn to one person, normally a king. Aragorn felt honored, and happy. Now he had his own dragon. Upon returning to the camp, he found everyone in a state of shock. He saw the nazgûl lying dead, Silvian dead not far from it. Terrico lay where Aragorn had left her, but someone had lightly placed a cloak over her entire body. Driikk was also dead, in his hand was a dagger stained with blood. No one could pull themselves together enough to tell Aragorn what had happened. Aragorn looked for Legolas. He found Legolas and Sealeaf sitting by a stream. Legolas's bow lay broken beside him. Sealeaf looked over at Aragorn. Griften had followed him. Sealeaf nodded to the white dragon then nudged Legolas, who was watching the fish in the stream. He pushed Sealeaf away, but turned when Aragorn spoke. "Legolas, what has happened? Have the other elves returned?" Legolas shook his head. "They were killed by the fell beast of the nazgûl. Driikk dropped from it when it turned to attack Silvian. He ran over and stabbed Terrico before we could stop him." Legolas curled up into a tight ball and started sobbing. As Aragorn touched his shoulder, he could almost feel Legolas's life draining away. The elf's normal radiance was gone. Griften looked down at the elf. "She meant a lot to you. I can tell. I think I have a spell that can help. Aragorn, we should take him back to the battlefield." Aragorn pulled at Legolas's shoulder. Legolas, however, merely curled tighter and pulled away. Sealeaf spoke for the first time completely in Common. "Legolas, please. Griften is very powerful. Please, Legolas, let's follow them." Legolas ignored him. Sealeaf snorted in anger. "Fine then. If you won't come willingly, then I will take you unwillingly." Sealeaf bent down and picked up Legolas by the back of his shirt and cloak with his teeth. Legolas didn't even fight, he just hung there. Sealeaf turned his head and dropped Legolas onto his back.