Fate of the Forsworn
Chapter 10
Old wounds
Kialandi frowned as she watched Caryn cast yet another searching spell for her weapon. Sarrarra was still taking things easy after the brutal fight the night before, and Niev was assisting Caryn with her search. Kyvoster had vanished some time in the night, telling only his Rider that he would be gone for some time. Caryn blew out a long sigh and ceased the flow of magic.
"There's nothing around here for miles that even resembles brightsteel, aside from Ajunthar and your sword, Kialandi Svit-kona. And I've stopped using the spell to detect your weapons now."
Niev murmured the same spell, this time without wording it so that his and Kialandi's weapons would be excluded. Slipping into a kind of trance, he scanned the landscape and froze in delight, ending the spell.
"Caryn, over here!"
He ran towards the marsh, followed by Kialandi and a very reluctant Caryn. Sarrarra shifted in her sleep, her tail flicking from side to side idly. Caryn stopped a good distance from the marsh.
"I'm not going near there again, Niev, not even with you, Sarrarra and a hundred other dragons here to guard me. What have you found?"
Niev circled the marsh until he came to the corpse of the massive nightmare beast from the night before. Already the body was rapidly decomposing, and giving off a stench that would put Lethrblaka to shame. Niev probed the corpse with his sword, smirked, and then slashed across the beast's side. The rotten flesh parted easily, and something glistened in the body. Caryn looked over in astonishment. Niev plunged his hand into the beasts' side and withdrew Kuldr, a beautiful sword smithed for Caryn by the elven smith Rhunon. Wiping it clean of the gore that clung to its' length, he walked over to the flabbergasted young Rider.
"One sword, Caryn. That ought to keep Master Ralforr happy."
Caryn took the sword in silent wonder, as if checking it was indeed hers and it was truly there. She placed the ornate weapon on the ground and woke up Sarrarra. The yellow dragoness walked over to them, snarling at the corpse of the beast as she did so. Even after healing and a good rest, her tail still bore the signs of the mauling she had taken during the fight. Many scales had been ripped clean off, and the exposed flesh was sensitive and itched badly. Caryn lifted up her newly reclaimed sword and smiled.
"Niev found it, Sarrarra! We can go back to Doru Areaba now!"
Sarrarra gave a sleepy grunt of approval and extended her left foreleg so that Caryn could climb onto her back. Caryn sheathed the sword in Sarrarra's saddlebags and turned to Niev and Kialandi.
"I can't thank you enough for helping me, you both saved my life. Hopefully one day I can do the same for you as well."
Niev smiled as he ruffled her hair, prompting a blush from her.
"I won't hold you to that, Caryn, but you're welcome. Hopefully I'll see you soon, I have a new mission to go to the Beor Mountains."
Caryn nodded as she settled in Sarrarra's saddle and waved farewell to Kialandi. Wearily, Sarrarra leapt into the air and flew into the west, towards Vroengard. Niev let out a sigh and turned to mount Kyvoster, who had returned silently whilst Caryn was leaving. Kialandi moved to mount her dragon too, but was prevented by the younger red dragon.
Niev and I can face this mission alone, Kialandi.
Kialandi looked at Kyvoster with a slight expression of surprise.
"Your Rider wished for me to accompany you, Kyvoster. And surely after last night, it would be wise."
Kyvoster snarled as he flared his wings. Kialandi's dragon looked up and gave an amused snort as the male dragon snarled at her Rider.
My Rider does not always know what he wants, Kialandi. Leave us, we will attend to this mission alone.
Without wasting any more time, Kyvoster leapt into the air and was soon flying south to the Beor Mountains. Niev was half-asleep in the saddle, idly wondering if he couldn't have convinced Caryn to part with one of the four Eldunari she carried. Although normally heavily protected, several of the Elders on Vroengard did not object to one Rider passing their borrowed Eldunari to another. After the fight with the strange creature, the magic that saturated an old Eldunari would be most welcome to ease the aches and pains Kyvoster felt even now. Apart from the sound of the winds and Kyvoster's wing beats, the flight south was silent. Morning melted into afternoon steadily, and soon Kyvoster began to fly lower. As they neared the ground, a small lake came into view. Niev smiled sleepily as he felt Kyvoster's growing hunger, and mentally nudged his dragon, agreeing that a break would be welcome. Kyvoster gave a roar of delight and landed beside the sun-warmed lake, eagerly sniffing at the water. Niev climbed down off the saddle and set about removing it from his dragon's back whilst Kyvoster waited impatiently. As soon as the saddle and Niev were a safe distance from the water, Kyvoster waded in and began to hunt for pike and carp, his favourite freshwater fish. Although his long snout was more adapted to killing larger marine life such as sharks, it was no hindrance when it came to smaller fish. Niev smiled as he watched his dragon hunt. Knowing instinctively what he would ask of him when he had enough, he set about digging a pit with magic, although with much less speed than he usually would. After fetching enough wood to keep the fire going, he set about finding herbs and seasonings for the fish Kyvoster would soon be bringing to shore. In a mere few minutes, the red dragon emerged from the lake, dripping wet but satisfied with his catch. Niev lit the fire and took a casual look at how many fish Kyvoster had caught. In his jaws, the red dragon had a fair number of fat, juicy pike and several plump carp, as well as a few others that had seemingly caught his fancy whilst he swam underwater. He opened his jaws and dropped the fish onto the ground unceremoniously next to his Rider. Niev gave him a look of exasperation as he sapped what little life energy was left in them into Ajunthar's diamond. Kyvoster's look of perpetual ferocity shifted to that of a youngster asking for more than they knew they should. Sighing, Niev shook his head and began to gut and clean the fish, prompting a roar of glee from Kyvoster, who walked back into the lake and lay down in the sun-warmed shallows whilst he waited for his meal.
Over an hour later, Kyvoster was hard-pressed to find a care in the world. Gorged with food his Rider and best friend had prepared inexplicably well, he lay in the warm water, letting the sun warm his body. Niev sat on the adjoining field, burying the fish bones and filling in the fire pit. After such a tiresome fight the day before, playing the part of cook for Kyvoster was child's play, and far less arduous than some of the tasks his former master had set for him to have him use magic. A smirk crept across his face as he recalled accidentally setting fire to everyone's wood pile, not just his own. Whilst he initially had trouble with magic and remembering words in the ancient language, he had soon become a fairly average student. His master had tried to encourage him to do better, but Niev wasn't one to take even constructive criticism well, and as a result had fallen behind. Bizarre nightmares had dogged his dreams for years during his training, especially as he aged towards his twenties. In that time, although he had grown close to Kyvoster and befriended several other Riders, especially Kialandi, he had remained very much a loner in the wake of his father's death in the Beor Mountains. And now, by fate or design, he was heading to the very same location to partake in some bizarre mission. As if summoned by his thoughts, a blast of sound startled him out of his doze and he looked up to see a roll of parchment curled in the grass. He sat up and unrolled it, reading aloud.
"Niev. You are to partake in a mission on behalf of the dwarves. Urgals and Kull have been raiding their mines. Try to find a diplomatic solution. This was the mission entrusted to your father. Vrael."
He shoved the parchment into Kyvoster's saddlebags, his eyes flicking over to where his dragon dozed in the shallows. He knew the area all too well; he'd been privy to the scene whilst his father's dragon, Ty'roc, had disgorged his Eldunari and used his magic to teleport it back to Vroengard. Niev hadn't actually seen his father die, but he knew that no-one had dared to venture there after the avalanche that caused his death. Something about the story didn't sit right with him, even though he'd been told by Vrael himself. Admittedly, only Niev's father had been caught in the avalanche whilst Ty'roc had been elsewhere, but surely another Rider or two could have retrieved the silver dragon's Eldunari, regardless of the mission itself. For now, he decided to wait until Kyvoster awoke again, mentally giving a small laugh at how long it might take. If nothing else, Kyvoster's mixed blood could make him extremely lethargic at times. He could also fly in and out of water as if it were air, although only if he dived right in, angled himself correctly, and then swam straight up. Resigning himself to a long wait, Niev lay back in the grass near his dragon.
Night had fallen by the time Kyvoster awoke from his slumber. The moon was just rising over the mountains in the east, and clouds scudded across the dark blue sky, blocking out the stars. He gave a low rumble of satisfaction from his earlier meal and turned to look at the lake. He stretched his wings and yawned, waking Niev in the process. Niev got up almost immediately and looked up at the sky.
"We slept away most of the day? Well, I suppose it can't be helped, you were pretty hurt from that beast last night."
Kyvoster tilted his head to look at Niev with a piercing eye.
I don't need our bond to tell you were about to make some kind of remark about me having slept so long.
Niev smiled as he began to fasten Kyvoster's saddle onto his back.
"Me, sarcastic? You must have spent too much time sniffing heather again, Kyvoster."
Kyvoster growled loudly, enough to make even a seasoned soldier turn tail and flee. Several times in the past, the half-breed had torn up large quantities of heather, blown fire on them, and enjoyed a brief, pleasant jolt that the smouldering plant gave off. No other dragon had been able to detect any kind of aroma on the scale Kyvoster did, and many had put it down to Kyvoster's mixed blood. Niev had been likewise affected whilst his dragon attempted to fill his lungs with the scent, much to his infuriation. He climbed onto Kyvoster's back and held on as his dragon took to the air. For the rest of the night, Kyvoster flew towards their destination, and finally, as dawn approached, landed near a pine forest on the slope of a blasted mountain. He shifted uneasily as he looked at the mass of rocks and dirt that scuffed up the appearance of the landscape, even under the light of a near-full moon. Slowly, Kyvoster picked his way over the rocks towards the forest. Niev glanced around, wondering whether there were any Kull around, when Kyvoster suddenly stopped. A mental nudge from the red dragon pointed out exactly why. At the tip of the avalanche, where the forest had survived being buried under tons of rock, was a massive skull. Stretching back from the bleached white head was the full skeleton of an old, deceased dragon. Pale, silvery scales still clung to the corpse in places, but no hint of internal organs or flesh remained. Kyvoster turned his head to look at his Rider.
Do you wish to be alone for now, Niev? I know exactly what you're thinking.
Silently, Niev descended from Kyvoster's back and walked up to the dragon's remains. He reached out and touched the skull with his gedwey ignasia marked right hand, as if seeking confirmation this was indeed where his father's dragon had fallen. After a few seconds he withdrew his hand, still not saying anything. He blew out a long sigh and turned to Kyvoster.
"Yes, this is where Ty'roc fell, and I imagine my father died around here somewhere too. It's one thing to dream about a place like this, but to come here and find the body after nearly a century, well, that's something else."
Pale, watery, pre-dawn light was beginning to show in the east. Kyvoster stiffened all of a sudden, flaring his wings and baring his fangs.
Niev, Urgals are here!
Sorry for taking so long to update and leaving you on a cliffhanger no less, work's been mental. Chapter 11 is in the works and will be here soon