Wayne Batson - The Rise of the Wrym Lord

“Tal, what did you see?” Kaliam asked.

“No,” he cried. “It is not possible! It was blacker than the night sky and had vast wings like a dragon’s. It was more swift than thought, and it leaped from the carriage to the battlement. And Alvisbrand… he was slain so quickly that he had not the time to cry out. It was as if he had never been at all.

“The dark thing flew back into the carriage. Before the carriage door shut, I saw a twisted, shriveled thing… like something unearthed from a grave. Then Paragor unleashed a mace, a great black spiked thing! It burst into flames. He whirled it about him, wreathing himself in flames, and then he smashed it against the main gate of Clarion… and it burst asunder and the flames spread.

“Everyone within, even children, fled in terror toward the safety of the castle, but they were struck down without mercy! At any resistance, the monster from the carriage emerged, spraying fire out of the darkness and kindling everything to char-even some of the stone itself melted! It was over in minutes. Tobias fell before the creature. I do not know what became of him because I was sent sprawling by Paragor’s mace. I do not even think Paragor knew he had hit me.” Tal laughed, a tired, hacking laugh.

“What about the survivors, Tal?” Farix asked. “Did Paragor take prisoners away?”

Tears slipped from the corners of Tal’s eyes. He stared at Farix, but before Tal could answer, his eyes became still, fixed.

“You fought well, Tal!” Kaliam proclaimed, gently closing Tal’s eyes. “Matthias himself may now tell you it is so. And your King will greet you in the Blessed Realm and say to you, ‘Well done, Servant of Alleble! Well done.”

Quickly but with great care, they raised a cairn of rocks over Tal. They stood in silence around it until one of the Acacian riders called out, “Look! The smoke clears! And the castle of Clarion still stands!”

They all turned and, beyond all hope, the white castle of Clarion was intact, resting upon the highest hill in the small kingdom. But Kaliam did not rejoice, for it seemed to him that the castle was surrounded by a gray shroud-a vaporous swirling mist that issued from its gatehouse.

They mounted their dragon steeds and soared up the hill to the wide stair before the castle’s main gate. They all started to climb the stair, but Kaliam raised his hand and stopped them. “I will go,” he said. He turned, walked slowly up the white steps, and disappeared within the hanging mist.

A moment passed, and then those gathered on the stair heard a haunting moan from within the castle. Kaliam emerged, shrieking, and fell to his knees on the steps.

“The stone alone survived!” he cried, covering his face with his gauntlets. “The rest… they are all burned.”

And that was all they could get from him for a long while. Farix and Oswyn carried him down the steps and laid him flat by his dragon. They stayed near to Kaliam, but they could not comfort him. No one else went back into the castle.

Finally, Kaliam sat up and took a drink of water. Aelic came to him and sat down. He put a trembling hand on Kaliam’s shoulder. “Kaliam,” he said, a deep-seated tremor in his voice, “was Antoinette among the dead?”

Kaliam looked away. “It is impossible to tell,” he said.

L ook!” Oswyn shouted. “In the sky to the northwest!” They all turned and looked to the sky above the ruin of Clarion. And there, just as the sun broke through the clouds, the sky filled with dragons!

“At last we have a strand of hope!” Kaliam announced. “It is our own force of dragons! Gird yourselves, warriors! For the Dragon Guard of Alleble has come!”

Dragons bearing knights in gleaming armor swooped into Clarion. Banners they flew but all with the same emblem: twin mountain peaks with the sun rising between them!

Sir Gabriel, the lead dragon rider, rode a magnificent gray dragon with a vast wingspan. Its scales glistened in the sun as it landed softly at the foot of the stairs. Next, Trenna’s dragon landed. They quickly dismounted their dragons and ran to Kaliam.

“Sir Gabriel, you are a sight for weary eyes!” Kaliam shouted, and he embraced him.

“My Sentinel, I bring you three thousand mounted knights!” he said. “But I fear we are too late!”

“For Clarion, yes.” Kaliam nodded sadly. “Our worst fears are realized, my old friend. Paragor has set free the Wyrm Lord. Clarion fell in minutes before the onslaught of Paragor and his fell beast. It is a loss beyond words.” Kaliam looked over his shoulder at the castle of Clarion. “But mourning must wait. Even now, Paragor turns homeward and approaches Yewland. Alas, I wish that you and the Dragon Guard had gone there instead of here!”

“Then know this!” Sir Gabriel said, and his eyes flashed blue. “The force that you see here is only a fraction of the army King Eliam has sent to Yewland. As we speak, twenty thousand knights march and ride to Yewland with haste!”

“Bless you, Sir Gabriel,” said Kaliam, and he kissed him upon the cheek. “You encourage me! And I think now the pieces are in place to cast Paragor down once and for all!”

“But how?” Sir Gabriel asked. “How can you be sure now that the ancient wyrm has been called out of dark legend to life?”

Kaliam took Sir Gabriel by the shoulders and gently said, “Tal and Tobias were among those killed in the battle here.” Sir Gabriel gritted his teeth, but he did not look away.

“But Tal saw the Wyrm Lord,” Kaliam went on. “And what he told me leads me to believe that the old dragon has not yet recovered his full strength. Paragor keeps him in a large carriage, and he only entered the battle for short spans. Granted, even in his diminished form, the Wyrm Lord is a dreadful force. But if we could assail him now, before Paragor cloisters him away in his dark land, then we might have a chance!”

Kaliam held up a fist and a broad, lustful grin broke out on his face. “Paragor does not know this, but he is heading right into the jaws of a trap!”

“What do you mean?” Sir Gabriel asked. Aelic, Trenna, and the knights gathered close around.

Kaliam held up both hands and gestured vigorously as he spoke. “Paragor thinks he will march through Yewland as quickly as he did Clarion. But if Mallik, Sir Rogan, and Nock reached Queen Illaria as I think they must have, then she will have the Forest Road swarming with her braves! The massive force of our countrymen from Alleble, twenty thousand strong, will pour into the western exit of the Forest Road. Then we will swoop in from the east and we will crush the enemy from all sides!”

“Yes!” shouted Sir Gabriel.

Kaliam turned to the dragon riders and bellowed, “Dragon Guard of Alleble! Knights of all lands who have come to our aid! Paragor has much to answer for, and finally he has come out into the open! You must make one more flight, one more journey, and you must race to the Forest Road to face the enemy and defeat him!”

Thousands of voices cheered as one. Kaliam raised a hand to quiet them. “But servants of King Eliam, gird yourselves! Paragor has a weapon of dread, and old tales you have heard spoke more truth than many of you believed. The Wyrm Lord has been released from his tomb!”

Fear swept over the knights, and they began to clamor. Kaliam raised his hands, but they did not quiet. Finally, he raised his sword, and little by little, their anxieties ceased to be voiced. Kaliam kept the sword in the air and yelled, “I fear that name just as you do! It is a terror magnified by the years and yet still worse now that it is real. He is the firstborn dragon, the Wyrm Lord, and he is endowed with fearsome power. His name ought to make us all tremble. But I for one will not tremble, and do you know why?” A great hush fell over the knights and dragons that filled the streets of Clarion as they waited on Kaliam, their Sentinel.