Fate Rides Wicked: Volume I of the Lerilon Trilogy (12 page)

The Lord of the Eagles laughed, and it disquieted the
souls of the endarils. “Be still, grand dragon of foolishness.
Your race should have perished merely for its cowardice in
not annihilating the reds.”

Doleof’s face flushed a deeper shade in fury. His voice
boomed as he said, “As you destroyed the falcons and the
hawks like you? By not finishing each other, the remaining
dragons are wiser for the shared experiences. The guilt of
your own stupidity drives your insults.”

The Lord had risen and all the feathers on his head
stood. “The falcons and hawks were inferior and
dangerous to the...”

“The endarils looked upon the humans like that once,
Lord, but now we are dependent on them for success.”
Fear flashed in the eyes of all present. Tych had
interrupted a verbal sparring match between two of the
most revered figures outside the humanoid races. With
boldness, he leaned forward and continued. “As I must
throw out my inbred hatred for humans, irrational as it is to
judge the sons by their fathers, as Doleof must trust the
endarils, though only one of our race has demonstrated that
we deserve it, so must all of us put aside the past and
cooperate for the good of everyone.”

The feathers were no longer ruffled and Doleof’s face
returned to brown as the speech finished. The Lord looked
Doleof right in the eye across the table. “He is wise.”

“His wisdom is in his leadership. We shall see if he can
act as wisely as he leads.”

“Enough talk. I must return to my flock soon; they are
in great danger. Here is your task, Prince Tych. You must
unite the forces of all the kingdoms, human, daril and
neftiran. Then, before your next birthday, you must march
on Rangdor, The Enemy of Life. You will need Lendril
more than you can imagine, for her wisdom, strength and
compassion are unmatched. In time, you will develop a
group of soldiers and magicians in which you have absolute
trust. Your greatest asset is your ability to demonstrate
your strength of leadership, and the power in your soul. Be
warned though, Tych, your powers will come suddenly,
before they can be controlled. Be careful not to injure
those I have mentioned and those that follow you.”

“I accept all this, Lord, just tell me where to begin.”

“I, too, would take my place in this unfolding
performance. I would see to the safety of Tych.” Lendril
said forcefully.

Flandroke responded, “Then here is your first task.
Southeast of here lays the domain of an evil human, Lord
Damarin. The eagles have scouted him and his forces are on
the move. We will guide you through the forest to his
castle, and there you will...”

Once all the planning and eating was finished, only
Doleof, Lendril and Tych remained on the lawn. They sat
cross-legged, soaking up the burning rays of the spring sun.
They had long since removed all clothing, the heat of the
day too unbearable for armor or cloaks. The sweet smell of
a steamy forest had returned to the air, and the scent of pine
needles and moss permeated the light breeze.

“It is a fine day to begin a quest, my friends.”

“Indeed it is Doleof. I am glad for this time they have
given us to think about our first task. Tell me, what did he
mean by my powers coming suddenly at great danger to
those around me?”

The dragon-man laughed deeply. “I don’t think great
was the word he used. He meant only that you would
discover your abilities by accident, as if stumbling upon
them. If the power happens to be destructive, the wrong
people might be in the path of its rage.”

“Why can’t they be taught to me so that I may be aware
of them?”

“Because nobody knows what they are. Even if
somebody who could teach them to you knew, I doubt they
would succeed. Your abilities are so much a part of you,
that they are as uniquely used, as you are unique. No, you
must stumble upon them in order to learn how to use
them.”

Lendril breathed deeply and said, “He must always be
the first into battle then, for that is when he will have need
for his powers, if the explosion in the river is any
indication. The stress of combat reveals them to you,
Tych.”

“You are wise, Princess Lendril. There will come a
point when a power is discovered which allows you to learn
all the others, but until then, it will be stress which conjures
your abilities from the inner reaches of your body.”

“Will I know them all by the battle with Rangdor?”

“There will be only one power undiscovered, but for
that you must return here. It is one I cannot teach you until
all your others powers have been discovered. Return here
two weeks before the battle so that I can transfer the
information to you.”

“I want to learn it now.”

“That is impossible, for I know not how to prepare you
for the lessons. You must prepare yourself. Besides, there
is no time now. The horses are here, get into your armor.”

The endarils stood and began climbing into the pads
that went under the armor. Doleof rose to his feet and
began to walk towards the woods. “I must hunt. My
dragon appetite needs to be satiated. Be wary of Rangdor’s
treachery and trust your feelings. If you need me, you will
know how to find me, but don’t abuse it.”

The pemilons came out of the forest with two horses as
Tych strapped on his sword. He had slowly made his way
to the door of the hut. Lendril walked behind him, still
buckling her breastplate.

“Ah, I see you are almost ready,” Flandroke yelled in
greeting. “I think we’ve gotten you a good pair of horses
here, they should serve you well.”

“Are they battle ready, Flandroke? I don’t want them
bolting at the first sight of Rangdor’s minions.”

“Trust me, Tych, these horses have seen a lot. They’ve
been trained to help their herd fend off raids by hostile
parties such as the forangen. As you can see, they’re still
alive so they must have fought well.”

“Give us a minute to get our bags and we’ll be off.”
Tych followed Lendril into the hut and they returned with
two saddlebags and backpacks. The endarils threw the
saddlebags over the horses and climbed up into light,
comfortable saddles made just for high-speed combat,
without weighing down the horse.

“Just let the trees and bushes show you the way. They
will seem to open up a path as you go. Your first challenge
will be just before the destroyed portion of the forest
begins. There is a rock formation with a cave which some
trolls have chosen to reside in. Remember the benefits of
sunlight in such a combat.”

“Last time we fought one, we were covered in mud. It
never had a chance, but then neither did we. When will we
see you again?”

“We will join you as soon as Lord Damarin is dead.
Good luck, my friends.” Lendril and Tych urged the horses
forward and rode into the parting forest.

Fear burst into laughter. “Our young prince is on his
way to his mission. Soon he’ll be so swept up in it he
won’t realize the destiny he’s fulfilling.”

“With that magician to help him,” responded Worry.
“Nobody has ever evaded us after they had been tied up. I
didn’t like that little ride through that wretched kingdom of
the credarils either.”

Impatience strode over to Worry and put his face real
close. “I’m tired of hearing you whine. What happened,
happened, now let’s get on with the task of ruling this
continent. The credarils were no match for our speed or
battle prowess anyway so I don’t know why you insist on
bringing it up over and over again.”

Fear snarled. “End that argument. It only conjures up
memories of what that magician did to us before vanishing.
We will get our revenge on him when we rule these
annoying mortals.”

Ignorance walked to the entrance of the cave. “The sun
is going down here. It is time for us to ride again.”

That night Tych and Lendril slept in a clearing with
sprites all around to warn them of danger. These little
creatures were invisible unless they revealed themselves or
the observer knew they were there. Their skin and clothing
magically hid them from all mortal eyes.

As morning arrived they woke the endarils and sped off
into the woods, returning to their villages in the trees.
After a breakfast of boiled eggs, Tych and Lendril mounted
their steeds and entered into the briskly cold forest. They
wore heavy wool cloaks and cloth helmets to shield
themselves from the frozen needles of air.

The morning passed uneventfully as they passed
through the forest, but by the sun’s zenith they had shed
their cloaks and were sweating under their armor. The dew
steamed off the forest floor and gave the air the appearance
of a swamp mist. A rich smell like freshly cut grass wafted
on a cool breeze.

Near mid-afterzenith the endarils pulled up as a new
smell reached their nostrils. Tych turned to Lendril. “Do
you think that putrid smell is from the trolls?”

“Either that or a dead animal. Let’s dismount and
approach slowly.” They dropped off their horses and
unshouldered weapons. In a few minutes they reached a
large clearing with a fire pit in the middle. On one side of
this stood a hill with one very large boulder sitting in front
of it.

“Put on your belt of strength, Tych, and push the rock
out of the way. I’ll get the first two before they can reach
you.” Lendril loaded a bolt in her crossbow and leveled it
at the boulder.

Tych put on the belt, which increased his strength to
that of the most powerful giant. He walked over to the
boulder and, bracing himself for the push, said, “When the
next cloud passes before the sun, I’ll roll it away. Maybe
they’ll be confused enough to rush out and be caught.”

Slowly the moments passed, and then it began to
darken. With a grunt the Prince pushed and the boulder
rumbled aside in a well-used trough. Two of the three
gangly, green creatures rushed out. One caught a bolt in
the forehead and turned to stone, moments before the other
became a statue of a troll diving for cover. The third made
it back to the darkness of the cave, but a bolt and a dagger
in the back made it stumble.

As a roar of rage and helplessness rang from the cave,
Lendril took a small mirror from her pouch. The sun came
out from behind the cloud, struck the mirror and petrified
the last troll for eternity. Tych walked to the creature with
a stone bolt in its forehead and knocked the head off with
the handle of his sword. He placed it on the ground at the
feet of the monster and walked back to his horse.

After he took off the belt of strength, he sheathed his
blade and mounted the steed. Lendril climbed onto her
horse and they left the clearing and the smell behind. Only
then did they pull their horses close enough together to
smile at each other and share a brief kiss.

As the sun sank in the east, the endarils reached the
edge of the living part of the forest. They dismounted and
stepped out of the trees to look upon a wasteland of fallen,
majestic conifers. Several hundred yards ahead, they could
see the spires of a small castle rising above a small stand
that was left untouched for some unknown reason. To the
south they could see the glow of many campfires, but they
were miles away.

Suddenly, they saw movement near the gates of the
castle as four torches bobbed in the air. “I estimate twenty
forangen and a couple of humans from the heat patterns,”
hissed Lendril.

Tych looked at her in shock. “My night vision cannot
see that far. It seems you have unusual powers too.”

Lendril seemed to be as surprised from the expression
on her face. “I always assumed that all endarils could see
as far with their night vision as they could during the day.”

“No. Neither I nor any endaril I know can see farther
than ninety or a hundred yards outside.” After a short
pause, Tych said, “Well, it’s nice to know you have it, but
let’s take this castle.”

Without another word, they tied the horses to some
nearby trees and began making their way through what
could only be described as rubble. Every now and then a
small patrol of forangen went in or out of the castle but
their night vision suffered from the torches necessary for
the humans and they didn’t see the two sources of heat
moving stealthily towards the castle.

In ten minutes they reached the road and crouched.
Tych turned to Lendril and whispered, “I estimate fifty
yards to the gates. Do you see the two guards?”

“Plain as day with those torches hanging above them.”

“If I’ve been reading this right, another patrol will pass
in less than a minute. Load your crossbow. After they
pass, I’ll stand up to throw a dagger at the one on the right.
You pin the one on the left to the wall. Come, we should
get closer.”

As quickly as they could they covered another hundred
feet, so that Tych crouched well within his accurate range.
As they flattened out to wait, the gates rumbled open and
two humans stepped out, leading twenty forangen in rows
of two, the first four carrying torches.

The humans stopped to talk to the guards and the
endarils listened in. “No more patrols will return. The
back of our army is sufficiently protected and we will join
them by morning. Two more patrols will leave tonight.
Lord Damarin will keep fifty of you to protect him. Do
your job and he won’t need them.”

The patrol stepped out onto the road and began the
march south. In a couple of minutes the light of the torches
flickered in the distance. Tych stood and threw in one
motion and charged the gates. A crossbow bolt whizzed
past him and both missiles took the surprised guards in the
throat, silencing them. They could see the movement of
something startled inside, and the gates began to go down
as they heard a shriek.