Wayne Batson - The Rise of the Wrym Lord

“I am sorry, Lady Merewen,” Kaliam said. “I did not mean it as an accusation. I am simply at a loss.”

“Could the heat and soot make this look old when it is actually new?” Aelic asked.

“Maybe,” replied Farix.

“Captain, come up here!” called Sir Wahlion. He had scaled a twisted rocky outcropping and now stood high upon it. Kaliam and the others followed.

“What is it?” Kaliam asked. “What do you see?”

“Well, sir, from down there I did not see much of anything,” said Sir Wahlion, pointing out into the wasteland that stretched between the base of Pennath Ruin and the next volcanic mount. “But it takes on a different look up here.”

Aelic stared out into the wasteland, and indeed it did look dif ferent. It was somewhat concave like a shallow valley or… “It is the lake of fire!”

“What?” Kaliam asked.

“Sir, look!” Aelic pointed. “Do you see the way the channels at the base of the volcano all curl away? Think of how the lava would flow if the channels were not there!”

“Yes, yes! I see it now!” Kaliam said excitedly. “Pennath Ruin would fill this crater over time, and it would become a lake of fire! Riders, to your steeds! If we are right, we must search this blackened valley for the tomb!”

They took to the air and soared out above the empty lake, but as they circled and began to search, there came an ominous rumbling from Pennath Ruin. Smoke issued forth from unseen vents and swirled into the sky. The mouth of the volcano went dim, and it became strangely quiet.

A blinding flash of orange lit the sky, and with the sound of cannon fire, Pennath Ruin erupted. Hot ash rained down upon the riders, and large hunks of rock began to fall.

“Take cover!” Kaliam bellowed. But it was too late. A jagged rock, streaked red and glowing like an ember, hit Sir Wahlion as he tried to race away. He and his steed fell still burning to the shattered ground. Another piece of smoking debris struck Lady Merewen’s dragon just as she left the ground. But Farix upon his dragon dove down hard and fast. The dragon reached for Lady Merewen’s limp form, gathered her gently, and flew swiftly away. The riders who survived gathered on a ledge at the other side of the crater.

“Lady Merewen!” Kaliam cried when he saw that Farix carried her in his arms.

“She lives!” Farix yelled. “The stone struck her steed, but she is only unconscious from the shock.” Kaliam took her from Farix and laid her gently on the ground. He brushed her silver hair with his hand, and her eyes opened.

Suddenly, another explosion rocked the landscape. They turned and watched in horror as it seemed that the entire backside of Pennath Ruin was turned to molten red and began a long, slow slide into the basin.

“The lava has overflowed the channels!” Kaliam yelled.

Lady Merewen looked up at him. “Go,” she said. “If you do not act now, we may never know.”

Kaliam started to argue.

“I will be fine,” she assured him. And with a slight sway, she stood. “Now, go! Find the tomb!”

Kaliam leaped into the saddle and urged the dragon into the air. The lava flowed steadily into the valley. Steam issued forth like geysers and great clouds of ash and soot swirled. Kaliam guided the dragon below the mist and just above the broken ground. Close behind him Aelic steered his dragon steed low, while scanning the wasteland. They circled round and round, and all the while, streams of molten rock poured into the basin.

“Kaliam!” Aelic yelled. “There! I saw something! Turn!” Aelic wasn’t sure if Kaliam had heard, but then he saw Kaliam’s dragon wheel about.

“Yes, I see it!” Kaliam said. “Some excavation! We’ll land there!” As the dragons floated to a stop, they saw more clearly the large rectangular cut into the rocky terrain. They dismounted and came to the edge and looked down. Stairs were cut into the rock and led steeply down beneath the surface.

“I will go,” Aelic said.

Kaliam looked back to Pennath Ruin. It continued to vomit a fiery stream of orange into the valley. “No! The lava is too close!” Kaliam said.

“We have to know!” Aelic said, and he leaped down the stairs. He disappeared from sight, and Kaliam waited. He waited for what seemed an eternity, and then he felt a rumble beneath his feet. He looked up at Pennath Ruin, but it was engulfed in a billowing cloud of ash. He felt a surge of hot air, fell to his knees, and coughed violently. Aidan’s dragon screeched, then raced away. Kaliam grabbed the reins of his own dragon just in time. He looked up at the lava flow. It was only twenty yards away.

“Aelic!” Kaliam screamed down the stairs. “Aelic, you must come now! Aelic, the lava is nearly here!”

And then he saw Aelic’s hand grasping out of the darkness for the bottom steps. The lava crept slowly over the edge and began to trickle down the first step. Kaliam went to the opposite side and reached down. “Aelic!” he screamed. “Grab my hand!” But it was no use. Aelic was too far down the steps-he could not reach him! Kaliam looked desperately about. Then he had an idea. He leaped on his dragon and snapped the reins. He brought the creature to hover so that its tail hung down into the opening. Kaliam leaned over, craning his neck to see. Aelic’s hand was no longer moving. The lava descended another step.

“Aelic, wake up!” Kaliam yelled. “Grab the beast’s tail!”

But Aelic did not stir. The lava surged down another step. Then another. Kaliam watched helplessly as the lava edged forward. He knew he must do something or it would become Aelic’s tomb as well.

“On your feet, thou lumpish, tardy-gaited canker-blossom!!!” Kaliam yelled in his best imitation of Captain Valithor.

Suddenly, Aelic’s hand stirred. And there he was, standing in the orange light cast by the lava.

“Don’t just stand there, you earth-vexing clot pole! Grab the beast’s tail!!”

Aelic’s hand shot out and clutched the dragon’s tail. Kaliam snapped the reins. The dragon lifted off, and Aelic flew out of the opening just as the molten rock reached the bottom step. The ground fell away, and the dragon swung Aelic up onto its back behind Kaliam.

“You really are starting to sound like… my grandfather,” Aelic said, hacking and coughing. Kaliam grinned over his shoulder at Aelic.

“Well, it got you moving!” Kaliam laughed. “Could you see in the tomb?”

Aelic turned to Kaliam. “Yes, the tomb is empty!”

Kaliam sat suddenly rigid. “Then it is as we feared, the Wyrm Lord has been set free.”

K aliam, Aelic! The King be praised! You made it!” Lady Merewen cried, practically dragging them both from the saddle. “When Aelic’s dragon came back wounded and riderless… we feared the worst.”

Aelic’s knees buckled and he almost fell, but Farix was there. “Got you, lad,” he said as he helped Aelic over to a seat on a nearby boulder.

“You cut it a little close for comfort,” Farix said. “What did you find?”

“We are too late,” Kaliam whispered. The Glimpses stood as if in shock. Pennath Ruin rumbled ominously in the distance.

Aelic stood slowly and leaned against the boulder. The air was still acrid to him, and he continued to cough as he spoke. “A steep stairway was cut down into the stone at the bottom of the basin. It seemed ancient, and I felt as if I were stepping backward in time as I descended. It was dark at first, but when my eyes adjusted to the half-light, I saw the remnants of an enormous door of stone. It had been ripped free from its hinges, and it lay in shards on the ground. There was a vast chamber beyond. The moment I entered it, I was overwhelmed by something. There was a smell… a stench, foul beyond the words I have to describe it, but it was not that. Within that chamber was a presence, a dark and brooding hatred that clamped down upon my heart. I could feel it willing me to die, and I almost succumbed to it. As I turned to lunge free of the chamber, I saw upon the walls within, upon the frame of the door, and finally upon the stairs-long gouges. I am convinced they were scratched into the stone by the talons of the Wyrm Lord.”