James Wyatt - Dragon forge

Trying to assess the situation was like watching a complex dance. Sevren preferred to dart in, cut with his knives, and dart back out of reach, and Zandar liked blasting the serpent from a safe distance. The serpent wove between them, repeating its word over and over, rendering one man or the other helpless for a few moments at a time. Without Vor at the forefront, none of the battle’s participants wanted to stand still next to the others.

The serpent showed the marks of both Sevren’s knives and Zandar’s blasts, but it was still going strong. Kauth glanced back at Vor. The orc was stooped over, his hands on his knees, catching his breath and readying himself to fight again. He jerked his head back toward the others, so Kauth turned around again and charged the serpent.

Sevren saw Kauth’s approach and timed his next lunge so they hit the serpent at the same time. In that instant, the terror of the battle slipped away. Kauth felt like part of a larger creature, each part functioning with perfect coordination. He and Sevren were two claws of the same beast, an irresistible assault. He rode a surge of joy forward.

Then the serpent spoke another arcane word, and it resounded in the air like a clap of thunder. Kauth stopped dead before he could complete the swing of his mace. The thunder echoed through his mind for an instant, driving away any other thought.

In that instant, the serpent drew its head back and spit a gout of black liquid that sprayed over him and Sevren. His skin burned, and he felt fire wash through the veins the healing magic had cooled.

Poison, he thought. I have a wand for that, too-somewhere. It was a wand he didn’t keep ready at his belt, and his mind was still reeling from the serpent’s thundering word of power. He fumbled at a buckle that normally required only a simple flick of the fingers to open, even as he saw Sevren double over in pain. The venom made Kauth’s stomach churn, but at last he found the wand he needed. Just as he drew it out, though, the coiled serpent’s tail lashed out and slammed into his gut, sending him sprawling.

He looked up at the serpent, expecting to see a fanged mouth closing in for the kill. But a veil of darkness covered its eyes, and it flailed about. The tail whipped around wildly, hitting Sevren next, but the serpent moved away from them, trying to protect itself until the darkness cleared from its eyes.

That gave Kauth the time to yank the wand from his pouch and stop the poison, cooling his blood once more. He stepped to Sevren and touched him with the topaz tip of the wand as well. The shifter nodded his gratitude then leaped at the serpent again, slashing furiously with his knives.

Kauth was pleased to see that the enchantment he’d placed on Sevren’s weapons made a difference-each blow from his blades brought spurts of blood and hissing cries of pain. He hefted his mace and circled to flank the serpent with Sevren, hoping to find the same kind of rhythm he and Vor had found. He bashed at its coiled body and readied himself for its attack, but it proved more intelligent than the gray render-it kept its attention focused on Sevren, clearly a more significant threat.

Then Vor charged back into the melee. He swung his axe in a weaving loop, back and forth, biting deep into scales and flesh and bone each time. Kauth felt like cheering as the serpent gave a final, gasping hiss and slumped to the ground. Its body flopped around for a moment, uncoiling to show its monstrous length, and it died staring blankly at the sky.

Vor put his hands on his knees again, breathing heavily. His armor was splashed with blood, and Kauth could see several tears in the metal where the render’s claws had torn through and cut into him. Kauth produced one of the wands he kept close at hand and set to work on Vor’s wounds, knitting flesh back together. The wounds were deep and must have been painful, but Vor never flinched. He accepted Kauth’s ministrations with a gracious smile.

Kauth tried, but he couldn’t quell his admiration for the former paladin. He wondered what had happened to cause Vor to lose that exalted status. Vor seemed to him like a perfect exemplar of the paladin ideal-dauntless almost to the point of foolhardiness, but staunch enough to keep his ground against overwhelming odds. He seemed completely selfless and devoted to his friends, however much he and Zandar traded jibes.

Vor seemed, in other words, to be exactly his opposite. At the thought, Kauth’s stomach churned and he tasted bile. His work on Vor’s wounds complete, he turned away from the orc, unable to look at him-a perfect mirror reflecting his own imperfection.

After Kauth had seen to Sevren’s broken ribs, the shifter led them to a crumbling structure at the heart of the ruins. It was larger than the outbuildings they’d seen before, and in better condition. A colonnade had once surrounded the building, though many of the columns had fallen into rubble and the roof they once supported was long gone. Some pillars still stood, and the carvings they bore had not completely eroded away. An assemblage of plants and animals-bears figured prominently, along with elks and panthers-ringed the columns, along with abstract symbols Kauth couldn’t make sense of, weaving lines forming circular patterns. The face of the building bore similar imagery, with fewer natural elements and more of the abstract designs.

“A Gatekeeper shrine,” Sevren said, giving only a cursory glance to the pillars as he led the others to the entrance. “Probably built above a daelkyr portal they sealed.”

“And now the seal is leaking,” Zandar said. “Hence the Depravation.”

“Can we seal it again?” Vor asked. Sevren scowled. “I doubt it.”

The shrine’s entrance was an open archway. Kauth eyed the stones of the arch warily, not certain that the worn keystone was quite serving its purpose any longer. Vor stepped in front of Sevren and entered first, ducking his head to clear the arch. It didn’t collapse on him, and Sevren followed, lighting a sunrod to illuminate the darkness inside. Zandar went next.

A smoothly coordinated team, Kauth thought. No discussion-they have a standard procedure and they follow it without question. I’m extraneous.

The thought made him tired-tired of a life he’d spent in the same position. Worming his way into others’ confidence. Following other groups without ever being a part of one. Traveling with friends who were not his friends, watching their friendships from the outside.

So this is what lonely is, he thought as he ducked his head and followed Zandar into the shrine.

The ground floor of the shrine was unexceptional. According to Sevren, there was no trace of any creature other than the serpent, no indication that any other living creature had traveled the halls in centuries. The gray render would barely have fit through the arch, of course, but Sevren suggested that the serpent had probably enforced the boundary of its lair.

At the heart of the building, the hallway widened into a stairway descending into darkness. Two large alcoves flanked the top of the stairs. The one on the left had collapsed, and rubble covered anything of interest that might have been there. To the right, though, the stone was intact, and a long, curved sword hung on two chains from the ceiling. Sevren and Vor set about examining the blade, which showed no signs of age, but Kauth’s attention was captured by the writing that covered the walls of the alcove.

Coiling, twisting characters of the Draconic language were engraved in the stone, grouped into lines and couplets and verses, spelling out the words of the Prophecy. The writing covered three tall, narrow walls, outlining the destiny of the world.

Tangled up, Kauth thought. I can’t seem to escape the Prophecy. If only Gaven were here.