Sorry for the year long gap between updates! This will NOT be standard proceedure for future chapters. Inspiration has been coming from all sorts of sources, each as unlikely as the next, but in any case, it's here now. Many thanks to all of you who have waited for this chapter
Fate of the Forsworn
Chapter 11
Unfinished business
Niev drew Ajunthar swiftly before the first Urgal came into sight. Mere moments later the small band came into view. Garbed in their typical armour, each Urgal was at least six foot tall. Kyvoster snarled warningly as the Urgals spread out into a crescent, making sure Niev could not see them all at once. The tallest and most muscled Urgal, clearly the leader, strode forward and gave a deep bellow. Niev didn't respond in kind, but lowered his silver sword.
"What is it you want, Urgal? This place is where my father and his dragon fell, I wish to be left in peace."
The Urgals murmured in their own tongue amongst themselves. The leader looked down at the Dragon Rider before him and spoke in a guttural, broken accent.
"My clan is here to beseech you for aid, Dragon Rider. Another clan of my race has taken to stealing the metals the short ones love so much, and they are slaughtering us all without discrimination for tribe. We ask you to stop the clan raiding the mines so that we might live alone once more."
Niev pondered what the Urgal had said as Kyvoster's warning snarl died down. A flicker of precognition ran through him, and he slashed to his right with his sword, just in time to deflect a javelin thrown from high up the hillside. Kyvoster roared as a second band of Urgals appeared, yelling a war cry. The band beside Niev responded in kind, and hefted their motley weapons. Niev looked at Kyvoster, and the red dragon jetted flame into the air. Niev hefted his sword and gestured to the second Urgal leader.
"You, bring your clan here. Defy me and you will reap my vengeance."
He turned to the bloodthirsty mob surrounding him calmly, as if this was something he saw on a daily basis.
"Put up your weapons. Do not attack them."
The clan chief who'd spoken looked astonished.
"But, Dragon Rider, they will lie and..."
Niev murmured a spell, and a spurt of red flame ran up the length of his father's sword. The Urgal chief looked at him sourly, then spoke to his followers in their own language. Kyvoster turned to Niev, his eyes smouldering.
Be wary, that chief only told his followers to wait for his word before attacking.
Niev nodded almost imperceptibly as the second band of Urgals walked towards them. Although larger in number than the first clan, the Urgals of the second group looked skinnier, as if famine had struck their lands. When both groups were a decent distance apart, Niev muttered a subtle spell that would drain the energy of any who tried anything seditious whilst he worked out the problem. He turned to each group and motioned for them to put away their weapons. Grudgingly, they did so. Suddenly one of the Urgals hefted a knife. Both groups stirred, but none were faster than Niev. Reinvigorated from the spell he had cast, he raised his left hand and spoke aloud.
"Jierda!"
The Urgal was slammed to the ground, his knife breaking as it hit a rock. The Urgals murmured but made no move to stop the Dragon Rider. Kyvoster looked almost amused as the Urgal got back up dazedly. Niev lowered his hand and pointed at the first clan leader.
"Tell me of where you are from, and how this group has impeded you."
Shouts of protest came from the second clan, only to be drowned out by Kyvoster's snarls. Niev glowered at the Urgals of the second group, inwardly marveling how he had gotten both groups to sit still for even this long.
"Either be silent of your own accord, or I will mete out justice to you as I see fit. I will not warn you again."
The Urgals fell silent sullenly. Niev turned back to the first war chief and listened as he told of how the second clan had attacked their small village for honour duels and foodstuffs. Nobody in the unusual gathering moved a muscle as the war chief spoke. Finally, at the end of his narrative, he took a step forward, as if to attack the leader of the other group. Niev gestured, his eyes clouding over, and a rock wrenched itself from the ground and levitated some ten feet above them all. The Urgal glowered but stepped back. Niev pointed at the second war chief. At the end of his narrative, the Dragon Rider was silent as he thought. Both Urgal groups waited, several becoming restless as time passed. Finally, Niev looked up.
"The judgement of the Dragon Rider Niev is this. None of you shall approach the dwarves again, whether you have in the past or not. Your village," he indicated the leader of the first clan, "shall not hoard more food than you need, whilst your village shall not raid them. If you want honour duels, seek out the thieves and murderers amongst the humans."
One of the war chiefs spoke up in disgust.
"Dragon Rider, there is no honour in slaying a thief."
Niev glared at the dissenting Urgal.
"I say there is. Would you not see it as revenge if he stole from you?"
Several of the Urgals gave a low chuckle. Niev released his spell, and slowly both groups began to part ways. Again, a flicker of precognition ran through him, and the Urgal who had tried to disrupt the negotiations before ran forward, his jagged shard of a knife in his hands. Niev sidestepped his headlong rush easily, and used magic to knock him to the ground. Raucous laughter emanated from the other Urgals, whilst a humiliated bellow of rage came from the Urgal Niev had just floored. The Dragon Rider spoke firmly.
"Don't."
The Urgal ignored him, got to his feet and ran at him full tilt. Niev raised one hand and strange tendrils of red and amber shot from his fingertips to connect with the Urgal. In the space of three seconds, the Urgal had been transformed from a living, muscled creature to a heap of dry bones with sparse clothing and armour. Silence reigned as the remains fell to the ground. Niev lowered his hand and walked towards Kyvoster, who looked at his Rider silently, his mood unreadable. Only when Niev turned to the meeting ground did he see all the Urgals had gone. Finally, Kyvoster spoke.
You did what needed to be done. Blood-lusting Urgals are what started this problem, and cost your father his life. But to have done it so quickly, Niev, you could have persuaded those Urgals to move to Ilirea and become poets. Truly, that was...
A bellowing roar cut off Kyvoster's mental speech as a smaller version of the nightmare beast that had attacked Niev and Caryn lumbered onto the scene. In daylight it looked more alien than any creature ever known, and it glowered at both dragon and rider before charging. Kyvoster leapt into the air, twisted, and slapped the creature with his tail, making it stumble and roar in frustration. The beast straightened up and made a futile attempt to swat the dragon out of the air. Kyvoster hovered as Niev hastily tightened the buckles to hold him in the saddle. Once done, he outlined his plan to the crimson dragon, and began to pour out the magic he'd gathered in Ajunthar. The beast roared again, again trying to grab at Kyvoster. With surprising agility, Kyvoster flew behind the monster and slammed it to the ground with one well placed kick. Niev spoke his spell, and a massive rock crashed on the beast's head, killing it instantly. The Urgals who had lingered gave bellowing cheers at the swiftness of the deed. One Urgal from the starved tribe, seemingly a shaman of some kind, beckoned the Dragon Rider down. Grimacing, Niev urged Kyvoster to land. The Urgal shaman walked up to them and spoke in a twisted accent.
"Many of these beasts stalk our lands, and it is they that consume our prey. One of our trackers found a breeding den for them six moons ago."
Niev's eyes flashed. He nodded to the Urgal.
"Think of the location and I will go there and cleanse the land of this menace. I will seek out your war chief when they are eradicated."
The Urgal gave a short bow, then turned and left the area. Niev gave a long sigh as Kyvoster began to talk.
Niev, that draining technique you used on that Urgal is not one you should use. It is complicated, and can twist and rot your mind from the inside. I've seen your mind and heart, and as humans go, you are noble, courageous, kind and somewhat foolhardy. But using such methods will gain you no favour if the Council ever learn of it. I have held my silence for you, partner-of-my-mind, but consider your love of challenges. Anyone could kill an Urgal, or even one of these nightmare beasts, with such a technique. Use your more basic training to make more creative methods of defence and attack.
Niev nodded silently as he mentally shared the knowledge the Urgal had given them. Kyvoster flew into the sky, deliberately looking straight ahead as Niev looked at the remnants of his late father's last battleground. He sent a mental call to Vroengard, asking for assistance with the alleged nest of nightmare beasts. Unchecked, they had the potential to ruin entire towns.
Flying back to Vroengard, Caryn was in an unusually sulky mood. Sarrarra wasn't talking, her attempts at talking with the Eldunari had been unsuccessful, and she was now certain Kialandi held her in lower regard than most humans. Considering the elven Rider had always been a detractor of humans, it meant that Kialandi probably prefered the company of Urgals, Ra'zac, rapists and Lethrblaka. As she sat back in the saddle, a mental tingle touched her mind. She soon recognised it as Vrael himself, and hastily responded.
Master Vrael, what may I do for you?
The head of the Riders wasted no time with more words than necessary.
I want you to aid Niev in fighting a nest of those strange beasts you encountered. Send back the Eldunari you were loaned and head there immediately.
Caryn gave a sigh as she drew on the strength of each Eldunari to teleport them all back safely. Sarrarra turned around, but not in the ideal direction to head to Niev. Caryn soon noticed and nudged Sarrarra.
"Sarrarra, we're meant to be going to help Niev, and he's to the south-east."
Abruptly, Sarrarra dived for the ground below, and landed at a run. She proceeded to scratch at the ground until she seemed satisfied with something, then lay down and dozed off, maintaining her silence against her Rider as she did so. Caryn repeatedly tried spurring her dragon on, but to no avail. She sighed and drew her sword from her sheath, gazing in admiration down the golden blade. She touched the topaz pommel stone and touched the repository of magic within it, such as it was. Her thoughts flicked to Niev. Somehow, he was able to channel the essence of life itself into his sword's diamond and keep it as magical energy, but no scroll, book or tome in Vroengard had given more than a hint of such a spell existing, much less how to wield it. Sighing, she stared down the beautiful weapon, her memory flicking back to when she had first met Niev. A sad smile crossed her face as she thought back to her fascination and awe at being rescued by a legend. Admittedly, she hadn't heard of Niev himself, but myths and stories painted the Dragon Riders in the role of demi-gods, heroes, protectors and the very epitome of what one person could do. She felt her eyes grow damp as she recalled speaking to him for the first time.
"Do you think I'm magical?"
Caryn sniffed, sheathed her sword and stood up. She walked a short distance from Sarrarra and kicked at the dusty soil, impatient to help Niev seek out the bizarre nightmarish creatures that had sprung up from seemingly nowhere. As she kicked away at the soil, a sparkle in the dirt caught her eye. Curious, she knelt down and brushed the soil away, soon exposing a small red ruby. She smiled radiantly, feeling a touch of irony. The precious stone was the same colour as Kyvoster's scales. Although there was no denying Niev's dragon was sarcastic, she knew him well enough to know that there was genuine warmth and affection in his heart for her. Climbing back into the saddle, she was about to prod Sarrarra awake and convince her by any means necessary to go to where Niev was when she truly beheld the state of her partner. Sarrarra was utterly exhausted, in more ways than one. Opening herself to their bond, she could feel the yellow dragon's fatigue, the aches and pains from the recent battle, and what was perhaps most distressing of all, Sarrarra's concern for her. Caryn reached deeper into their bond and pried her dragon into a semi-awake state. Sarrarra didn't move, but her golden eyes half-opened in an expression of immense tiredness.
Caryn, if you're going to...
Caryn took a deep breath.
"No, I'm not going to insist we go south now. I want to apologise. You did so much for me when I was stuck in the quicksand, and you've always such a good friend to me. I really don't deserve you."
Yawning slightly, the female dragon shifted slightly.
Nonsense. Without you, Caryn, I would never have hatched. Even if someone had created somebody exactly like you, I would have not have hatched for them. You and I are one body and soul.
Tears welled up again in Caryn's eyes at her dragon's touching speech. Before she could articulate a response to Sarrarra's love for her, she became aware that she had fallen asleep again. Smiling warmly, she snuggled down in her saddle and waited for her to awaken.