Chapter Six – the dragon’s heart
To their disappointment at first, they found that the Bone Dragon couldn’t fly them over, and they were left to actually clear out the rubble, as previously instructed.
Aeden and Kalia had found plenty of treasure cards in the abandoned library. Using Helaphants and Bone Dragons like Suriyah had suggested, they got to moving the rubble to make a more or less clear path through.
“I can’t believe Suri’s a princess!” exclaimed Aeden after a while, as if the information was just registering.
Kalia dropped the rock she was carrying. “What!?”
Aeden gave a brief explanation about what he had learned from the Headmaster and Suriyah.
“You’re lying. Suriyah? She always seemed so laid back, not really adventurous, and definitely not the savior type. After the Dark Epoch, everyone thought the entire Drake family had died. I guess we were all far from the truth.”
“I know,” Aeden agreed. “I’m glad I met her.
Once the way was clear, they navigated through the rocks and onward towards the Tower of Archives. Following Kalia’s feel of the Emerald Specter, the trace led them to an unused tower. Upon entering, they were attacked with Draconian Strikers, rank eight elite.
Using their full power, the battle lasted a long time, but eventually the monsters were defeated, and the gate behind the guards opened. Drinking potions to restore their health and mana, they ventured forward.
†††
Maelyn landed gently on a cliff that was precariously overhanging an abyss. We carefully dismounted, then ushered her forward so she could wait on solid ground.
However our own feet weren’t standing still for long. Out of nowhere came ten Draconian guards, their badges proclaiming them Guard Vipers, rank nine.
We fought with most our power, but we were only levels thirty-three and forty-two against ten monsters with the general level of a Master Pyromancer. Quickly we were knocked down and stripped of our spell cards and wands, and Maelyn had an iron collar put around her neck. It was attached to a thick chain held by one of the Draconian monsters.
“Suriyah, why didn’t you…?” Blaise began.
“Because last time I used it I needed clockwork fixings, so if I have to use is at all, it’ll be on Titan,” I hissed in reply.
“Quiet scum!” the leading Draconian snarled. He was the one who held the box that contained the Flamewing Coal Heart. Blood Bats, I should’ve been more careful about that, but how? I couldn’t have hidden it. Guess there really wasn’t much I had been able to do. “Wait until Master sees you two,” he continued, then laughed, and it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. “Boy will he be pleased.”
“Why don’t we just kill them now?” asked one of the others. “Bring him their heads, that’ll make ‘em less trouble.”
Lose my head? Nuh uh, not today.
Lifting my shoulders, I glared at the one who had spoken. “You know what will happen if you kill me, don’t you? I’m pretty sure Titan wants the honors himself.”
“Oh? And why’s that?” the leader demanded.
Smirking, I responded, “Why should I tell you?”
“Shut up!”
“Kill ‘er,” said another from behind. “That should do the trick.”
“But what if what she says is true?”
“Bet it isn’t.”
“Well, it could be so.”
The leader, grinding his teeth, whipped around and yelled, “Shuddup! All of you!” He turned and grabbed Blaze by his hair and held his sharp sword to his neck. “We won’t kill any of them. But if you’re lying...” His tongue flicked out threateningly. “He goes first.”
Swallowing nervously, I nodded agreement.
“Now don’t say anything, all of ya!”
We resumed marching around the narrow path that led around the mountain and soon come to an enormous gate. It was red obsidian and burned badly. Horns protruded all over the sides, and watchtowers adorned the corners. They opened at our arrival, and what lay beyond them shocked me.
Small, patched up wooden houses with thatched roofs were the homes of the last inhabitants of Dragonspyre; dirty people with ragged clothes, small children clinging to their mother’s skirts, tilting houses barely standing. Baskets with rotting potatoes, dry bread, and moldy cheese sat outside each home, as well as a small jug no bigger than a soup bowl filled with no-doubt dirty water.
As we passed they stopped whatever they were doing -- hugging a child, eating a piece of bread, taking a sip of water, sweeping the cobblestone street -- and stared. I straightened my back and tried to look them all in the eyes, hoping my gaze could give them hope, tell them they would soon be free of this.
Once we were past the ghetto did I notice that there hadn’t been a single man.
Wondering how this could be, I lost track of time as we entered the darkened palace and wove through dark corridor after dark corridor. Only when sudden light burst in front of me did I look up. We had come into a huge room. Of course it had to be huge, for a larger than life dragon was curled up at the end.
It was none other than Titan himself.
†††
Running down the long, spiraling stairwell, Kalia and Aeden fought down their fear, for pounding footsteps and loud yells could be heard behind them. Soon they came down into a large chamber with four short hallways leading into antechambers.
“Right first,” said Kalia, already moving in that direction. Once inside, they found Ember and Icepine; Ember locked in chains of ice, Icepine locked in chains of fire. The chains were clearly items of powerful magic, something neither wizard could hope to learn in their lifetime.
“What are we going to do?” Aeden said, dismally looking at the chains.
“You’re the Fire wizard! Break the fire chains,” Kalia snapped in reply.
“Yeah but how. In case you’ve forgotten I’m an Adept.”
“Okay, but think of it this way: it could take us years to construct something but moments to break it. I know you can do this. These chains don’t follow the normal laws of magic. They’re meant to restrain the Legend Monsters, not Adept Pyromancers.”
Aeden smiled, reassured. “Okay. Then I can do this.”
It took a while for him to break the chains of fire on Icepine, and in the end it left him feeling drained. Thankfully, however, Icepine easily broke the chains of ice constraining Ember. The two Legend Monsters thanked them with much gratitude, and effortlessly helped them free Cyclone trapped in chains of myth and Stone Angel trapped in chains of storm. Soon after they had also freed Emerald Specter, trapped in chains of death, and Sandman, trapped behind a glass wall that reflected his own power.
Across from Emerald Specter there were broken chains of life that had held Nightmare. How he had gotten free remained a mystery.
Just as the six Legend Monsters and the two students prepared to fight their oncoming pursuers, sudden cries of pain echoed down the stairwell. One by one, Draconian soldiers came tumbling down, the last was followed by Nightmare.
“Well done,” it said. “We shall fight for you. What do you need help with?”
“A distraction. So Suriyah and Blaze can make it safely to Titan,” said Kalia.
“My dear, that journey is anything but safe,” said the still sorrow filled voice of Emerald Specter. “Titan’s Draconian army is everywhere; sooner or later your friends will be seen and captured.”
“More likely sooner,” put in the grinding voice of the Stone Angel.
“But Suriyah is the Princess!” Kalia argued.
Before any could reply, Cyclone said happily, “A distraction we shall occur anyway.”
“We have all waited a long time to have our revenge,” explained Ember. “The due date has come and gone. It’s time for vengeance!”
“Then what are we waiting for?” exclaimed Aeden. “Lets go!”
“To the Crown of Fire!” yelled Icepine. All the Legend Monsters and Aeden bounded forward, pushing and shoving up the narrow stairs. All the Legend Monsters except one.
“There is one last thing to do,” said Emerald Specter.
Kalia, who had been about to follow, stopped and turned. “What do you mean?”
“The princess requires one last thing to fulfill her reign. We must retrieve it.”
“We?”
“I am but a ghost. I need human hands to pick up the Dragonspyre Crown.”
“Suriyah’s crown?” Kalia paused. “Oh right, she’s a princess.”
Though the ghost was constantly crying, it smiled. “Yes. I am looking forward to returning to my home. But I cannot fight like the others can. I heal and defend.”
“Yes, I know,” agreed Kalia, remember learning about Emerald Specter in class. “Where is the crown?”
“Kept in a Crystal of Knowledge in the Plaza of Conquests. I will distract the guards, you retrieve the crown.”
Kalia nodded, smiling, adrenaline pumping. “Alright. Let’s go.”
†††
I jerked my head from side to side before finally seeing what I was looking for. Ignoring the pain in my wrists where the rope was digging in, I made eye contact with my father.
He looked sick. So sick. He was white as a sheet and sweat glistened on his face, his dirty clothing hung limply on his skinny frame, and his hair was pulled back in a ponytail, for it had grown so long. Gray, half moons hung under his eyes.
His eyes widened for only a second when he saw me, but then he regained his composure and shook his head most discreetly.
I turned to look at the dragon.
“How’s it going Titan?” I yelled, my voice echoing around the hall. Titan growled as we were brought forward.
“A little confident are we?” His great claw flicked at one of the guards. “Teach the loud mouth a lesson.”
“Yes sir,” he replied. Alright, time to get this fight going. As he raised the butt of his spear to smack me, he went flying into the wall. I never had to touch him.
All the guards gasped, and moved away slightly. Titan’s own ruby eyes widened with surprise and horror.
“Suriyah…” Blaze said uncertainly.
“Get the box, give it to me,” I muttered in reply.
And just in time too. Just as I freed myself the great doors that we had come through burst open and six of the seven Legend Monsters poured in, followed by at least three dozen men wielding axes, hammers, and fire pokers, all Heckhounds broke loose.
Pulling up my foot, I kick my guard in the chest as he attempted to grab me again. I then started working at getting my wrists out of the ropes. Luckily, the Draconian wasn’t very good with knots and soon I was rubbing the reddening skin. I quickly undo Blaze’s as well.
“What now?” he asked. I glared at him. “Box. Right. On it.” He sprinted away.
I turned and found myself face to face with Nightmare. “Here to help?” I asked, my voice holding only a smidge of contempt. He had kept his word, after all, I guess I owed him a little more trust.
“Your friends freed us. Under your orders?”
I smirked. “But of course.”
Nightmare laughed. “None of us can fight the dragon, only you can.”
“I know,” I snapped. “I mean, you could, but you would be doomed to fail.”
Nightmare was not amused. “Then why aren’t you?”
I threw my hands up in exasperation. “I ride a dragon, I get captured, I finally see my dad, I come face to face with Titan, I just barely get out of my bounds, and you’re telling me to hurry up!?”
Turning my back on him, I started running down the hall towards my father, who was staring at the chaos as though he couldn’t quite believe it. He hadn’t moved away from a cluttered work table, covered in all sorts of Necromancy-looking things. I wasn’t sure what Titan had kept him around for, but after the incident three years ago, Titan could’ve been making him work on practically anything.
I knew I should feel nothing for him, and if anything it should be hatred, but sometime ago I knew I had forgiven him.
“Dad!” I screamed, tears pricking at my eyes. “Dad!” He looked up and his eyes brightened. His arms spread wide and I threw myself into them. Hugging him, I could feel his ribs and his shoulder blades. “I’m sorry,” I all but sobbed.
“Shh, shh,” he said, rubbing my hair. “It was all my fault. The dragon deceived me. You would never leave me, and no one can bring the dead back.”
“I almost did it you know. I almost shattered it. But my friends… they helped me. I… I want to fix Dragonspyre.”
He held me at arms length. “Goodness, you’ve gotten tall. Three years has it been?”
I laughed and sniffed. “Yeah. Been hanging out in Marylebone. Got a hang of clockworks and stuff. Check it out.” I lifted up one glove to reveal my arm. “Broke it, Howard fixed it. Nice eh?”
Before he could respond, a pillar was knocked down besides us. We looked up to find the shadow of the dragon looming over us.
Guess reunion time was over.
“Little Suriyah,” Titan snarled, his voice deep and terrifying, obviously filled with anger. Turning to Malistaire, he snapped, “Your plan didn’t work. You didn’t scare her enough!”
“Oh, it scared me, and I almost did it!” I yelled back up at him. I would not let him coerce my father anymore, nor anybody for that matter.
Titan opened his wings, and as he did so a great wind swept through the hall and knocked nearly everyone to his or her feet. His size increased tenfold and for a moment fear spiked through my heart. He was a dragon, how could I fight that?
“You almost won,” he hissed, smoke streaming from his nostrils, “but nothing, nothing can change it now. You’re going back where you came from!”
The dragon reared back his head and opened his mouth. Even though he did not breath fire, heat spilled into the room, making it sweltering. An almost human sound came from his mouth. Laughing. Reaching up his tail, he knocked away a majority of the ceiling, spilling rocks the size of Maelyn down upon the people and minions. Swiftly, he scooped me up with his burning hot, humongous claw hand and the ground vanished below me, and then I was eye level with the dragon.
“Wow, I was wondering how the weather was up here,” I yell over the noise, my voice dripping sarcasm, hoping I could kill him with just that. Chances were low but I could still try, plus it helped even out the raging battle of terror that was taking place inside me.
“Fool!” snarled the dragon, bits of fire flying from his mouth and landing on his hand around me -- f course, it didn’t hurt him. “Do you have any idea who you’re up against?”
“I sure do. A monstrous dragon with crazy mood swings. Wait, why am I baiting a dragon a million times my size?” Typical me, running my mouth when it least helped me.
The dragon again laughed again. “Exactly what I was thinking.”
I sucked in my breath. Maybe I did have an upper hand advantage and my sarcastic remark wasn’t just taunting words. “Oh, right, because I can do this.”
An invisible force slammed into the side of Titan’s face, forcing his head to do a ninety degree turn. Just as he was about to breathe fire in my own face, another fist came from the other direction and did the same thing. The searing flames spewed the other way, and so far I was saved. But I had to get down and find Blaze. Hopefully by now he had the box…
I gripped my left fist and a force came from above, and with all my might I tried to drive Titan down. It worked… to an extent. He fell, stunned, and he fell fast. When his hand collided with the ground in a bone shaking vibration, I thought I was dead for sure. Miraculously, I was fine, for the time being anyway.
Climbing from the burning hand before Titan reorganized his thoughts, I scanned the room for Blaze, hoping he wasn’t one of the many who had just been made into a pancake. The thought made me shudder, but the adrenaline pumping through my body was overriding all other emotions.
“Suriyah!” I turned to see Blaze running towards me, the box held high over his head like a trophy. “Look!”
“Careful!” I yelled, but then he was in my face, holding up.
“Here.”
Before I could take it, we were thrown into the air by a talon sweeping underneath our legs. Landing painfully on my back, I tried to ignore the pain, but then I was being lifted again, and not just up to standing eye level.
Titan started flying.
It was high, so very high. If I fell again I definitely would not survive. It was no or never.
“Open it!” I yelled at Blaze, though he probably couldn’t hear me. “OPEN IT!”
I knew I had one shot at this and one shot only. Finding the box with my mind, I grab for the presence of the heart. It was hot, like it was burning my brain ten thousands times more than Titan’s smoldering grip. It was the most pain I had ever felt, as if someone were dissecting my head without anesthetics -- or what I imagined that would feel like.
I lifted the heart, hoping the lid of the box was off.
And it was.
A steady thumping sound, the ba-bum, ba-bum of a beating heart, filled my ears, and most likely the ears of everyone. It drowned out all other noise: the wind of the Titan’s wings, the roar of the volcano, the yelling of people beneath. All I could hear was the beating of the heart that was like a second pulse dictating the flow of my own blood.
I looked into Titan’s crystal green, dragonesque eyes, and for the first time, I saw pure fear in them.
Raising the Flamewing Coal Heart, I looked at it. It was glowing faintly, and it looked like any other human heart, surprisingly, about the size of my fist. It was the color of red flesh, but a fire burned within it, illuminating it through the thin skin tissue. It was a beautiful specimen, and for a moment I almost stopped what was I doing. How could I destroy such a bewitching item?
I closed my eyes. I knew why.
“Time’s up,” I said, mostly to myself, and reopened my eyes. Moving the heart towards the dragon, he opened his mouth for one last breath of fire, the biggest mistake he could’ve made. The heart flew in and the beating grew faster, as though to match my own racing heart.
All was silent for a moment, then Titan began to shine. Every outline of a scale, every trace of a blood vein in his wings, began to glow like the heart had been. Instead of heat like I had expected, everything around me grew cold. The dragon froze as the light within him reached a maximum, then he exploded into ash like a dying star.
And then I was falling.
