Chapter 7

Gileed walked down the steps and walked right into the vault. The vault itself was dome shaped, and statues of Reluraun circled the entire room. Floating high above was a wooden coffin that continually spun in a slow circle.

Gileed eyed each of the twenty-eight statues in the room. No statue was the same as the others. Each of them had something different on their body. He eyes spotted the statue with the amulet around its neck.

He walked over to the statue and grabbed the amulet. At last he had what he came to this wretched place for. He whispered a silent prayer to his men, who had perished in this journey.

Gileed turned and began in what would be the first step in his journey back to Evereska, when he saw the half-elf step into the vault.

"Now you get a glimpse at your elven heritage half elf," Gileed announced as he put the amulet over his neck and drew his swords. "Now, if you don't mind, I have an artifact to return."

Tanis held both of his weapons forward. "I'll let you through Gileed, but only if you give me the amulet, and the dragon's eggs. My friends and I found the empty nest back in the forest, and I have a feeling you took those eggs."

Gileed laughed. "If you must know, I took the eggs, but when the dragon attacked my men, I placed them back under the nest. Even so, the eggs were that of a green dragon, and in the other room is a red dragon. The dragon who laid those eggs is probably dead. Those hatchlings will have to deal with the fact that their mother will not be there for them. I'm sure that's something you can relate to."

"Why are you so cruel?" Tanis asked as he stepped closer to Gileed.

"Because half-elf, you have to be cruel to survive in the world," Gileed answered. "You can't let anything stand in the way of your goals. I came here to Reluraun's Tomb to find the amulet, and I won't let anything stop me. Not even some half-breed."

Gileed stepped forward and stepped both of his swords at Tanis, but the half-elf's blocked both weapons with his own two blades. He whispered thanks to his father Jon, who had taught him how to fight in the two weapons style.

Gileed many another stab, but Tanis quickly deflected the sword with Matafleur, then slashed Wyrmclaw across Gileed's right arm.

The elf leader felt an icy chill coming from the wound. "No more games half-breed," he whispered as he stabbed the long sword in his right hand, across Tanis's stomach. The half-elf bent low, causing the sword to cut him hard across the cheek.

Gileed stepped left and slashed his long swords with lightning speed. Tanis attempted to match Gileed's speed, blocking three of the four attacks the elf had sent his way. The fourth sword attach had found it's mark in Tanis's right shoulder.

Gileed made one more pair of attacks, but Tanis easily blocked them. Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, the half-elf let out a cry as he moved forward, making two low slashes at Gileed's midsection. The elf tried to step back from the attacks, but both scimitar and sword ripped deeply into his flesh.

Despite the chill in his left leg, and the burning sensation on his right leg, Gileed made another attempt to step back, but Tanis's balled fist connected with the elf's lower jaw.

Gileed felt his jaw begin to swell, and stared in horror as a pair of teeth fell out of his mouth, and onto the floor. Remembering what Solostran told him about the amulet, Gileed clutched the artifact that hung around his neck and screamed "Shackre".

The room filled with intense light, blinding Tanis. The half-elf covered his eyes to prevent himself from going completely blind. When he uncovered his eyes, Gileed was gone.

In the room above, the baelorns, Gilderoy, Lucilya, and Kaylah cheered on as Freya rode the dragon's back, trying to get him in a headlock.

"Come on, you have to go down sometime," Freya yelled as she grabbed a handful of the dragon's scales.

"You almost got me," the dragon said with a cheerful tone. When the halfling first challenged him, the dragon told her that he was only here to fight Gileed. Then the dragon challenged the halfling to a wrestling match.

Kaylah, who was surprised that a red dragon could be this friendly, suspected the elven liches had cast some sort of charm spell on the dragon when they appeared.

The rogue smiled, then looked over at the door that led to the vault below. She had hoped that Tanis would make it back safely, and when he finally walked into the room, she ran over and hugged him. When she noticed the distressed look on his face, she asked," What's wrong?"

"He got away," Tanis whispered. "He got away." Before Kaylah could ask what happened, Tanis told her about the sword battle they had, and how Gileed used the power of the amulet to escape.

"Sounds like a coward if you ask me," Kaylah whispered. She then smiled and warmed up to him. "Don't you fret about it Tanis. You'll never have to see him again."

Tanis sighed. "I wish that were true, but something tells me that he won't forget meeting me for along time." He let out a thin smile and stared up at the halfling, who was now sleeping on the red dragon's back. "Is that Freya?" he asked.

The dragon smiled. "She grew tired. She's pretty strong for a halfling."

"Not strong enough to take down a dragon," Gilderoy commented," but all I know is I wouldn't want to fight her."

"Speaking of which, I'm tired myself," Kaylah said with a yawn.

Tanis nodded. "Me too. We could all use a break." The half-elf gently released himself from the rogue's arms and walked over to the green robed baelorn named Theodir, holding the enchanted scimitar that was given to him. "Here's Matafleur back. I'm sorry I couldn't stop Gileed."

Theodir shook his head. "You tried your best, and besides Matafleur is a weapon that has been in your family for generations. It served me well in my mortal days, and now Tanis, son of Jon and Eneyla, it shall serve you."

Tanis nodded and placed the scimitar at his side. "I guess I'll need another scabbard."

Kaylah shrugged. "We could always go back to Waterdeep and get you a nice one, or buy one in Daggerford."

"Or we could go to Mithral Hall," Freya said as her eyes snapped open. She jumped out of Gilderoy's arms and ran over to her friends. "I remember some of the dwarves saying that Mithral Hall needs good strong hands to help the Marshes against orcs, and there's one called Many-Arrows who I wouldn't mind challenging."

Tanis smiled "Mithral Hall it is then."

Tanis, Kaylah, and Freya left the room. When they were gone, Lucilya, who had been in reverie this whole time, opened her eyes and said," Tyresian, you can throw off the disguise now."

The dragon let out a sigh, and his shape shifted back to his true form. Tyresian Solostran stretched out his arms. "Another minute, and I would have had to redo the spell."

Gilderoy smiled and clasped the mage on the shoulder. "That red dragon disguise was a pretty handy trick. You really had all of us convinced."

Tyresian bowed and looked at the two Harpers. It was good to leave Evereska, and be out in the world again. Sure, he had to abandon his tower, his laboratory, and the prospect of becoming a high mage in the city, but he felt that his place was in the world with his friends.

"We may have not stopped Gileed from getting the amulet," Gilderoy continued," but at least we saved the tomb from being destroyed."

The Harpers looked over, watching as two of the baelorns used their magic to fix the room. Alamaxin had vanished, mumbling something about stopping Reluraun from attacking Tanis, Kaylah, and Freya.

Lucilya smiled at Tyresian. "That's some nephew you have there.

Tyresian wrapped an arm around his love. "I know. I'm glad to her that Eneyla had found peace in love after all of these years, but I wish I could help Tanis in some way."

"I don't think you'll need to worry about that," Gilderoy commented. "He's in good hands. I'm gonna guess that Tanis and the others are going back to that dragon's nest to look for the eggs. Putting that there for us to find was really convincing Tyresian."

Tyresian sighed, and looked down at the dead bodies on the floor. Elven warriors killed, not by orc hands, but by his own magic. Still, he had warned Gilled that Reluraun's Tomb would be protected by any means.

It was then that Tyresian heard Gilderoy's compliment about the dragon eggs and the nest. The mage looked over at the half-orc and said," I didn't put a dragon's nest out in the forest."