Legends of the Dragonrealm, Vol. III

THE DRAGON CROWN
I

The riders began to collect at the outskirts of the great Tyber Mountains. They had not gathered for such a meeting in nearly two decades, and as they joined one another at the narrow pass leading into the midst of the Tybers, it was clear that none would have come even now if necessity had not demanded it.

Clad in immense, flowing traveler’s cloaks that hid both face and form, the riders were a coven of gray specters astride mounts whose glittering eyes warned that they, too, hid secrets. There were no words of acknowledgment or, for that matter, even the simple nod of a head. Some of the band might, at times, have called one another brother, but the appellation was simply a matter of ceremony; there was little love lost among the riders.

When at last they were all gathered, there were those who would have set off for their destination, the sooner to end this unwelcome confrontation. One, however, chose that moment to begin pulling back the hood of his cloak. That led to a hiss from another and a low, painful, rasping reprimand.

“Not herrrre! Never herrrre!”

The one who had erred did not question his elder counterpart. He lowered his hand and nodded.

One of the other riders grunted, then urged his mount toward the path. The rest followed his example. Showing no sign of fatigue, the beasts snorted puffs of smoke and carried their masters swiftly among the mountains. Neither twisting and turning passages nor treacherous ravines slowed the group. Savage winds and slippery trails were obstacles also ignored. Though denizens not of man’s world hid and watched, the riders were in no way hindered. The creatures of the mountains knew who and what the intruders were, and so remained at a respectful distance, many shivering in fear. Some simply fled in open terror as the riders approached.

None of the ghostly riders took notice of the onlookers. Their concern lay only in the vast presence looming above them, a mountain so massive that those surrounding it looked like vassals paying homage to their lord. Those of the band who had never been this close were hard-pressed not to be overwhelmed by the peak’s grandeur and the power they could sense radiating from within it.

Kivan Grath. The name was old and without reliable origin, but all here were aware it meant “Seeker of Gods.” No one knew the reason for the title, yet somehow it fit. The riders turned their steeds toward the peak. At this point, there was at last some hesitation from their beasts, but, unforgiving, their hooded masters prodded them on, silencing whatever protests the mounts made. The sooner the band reached its destination and completed the task before it, the sooner the riders could go their separate ways.

At the base of the vast mountain, they came at last upon that which they sought. As one, the band reined their animals to a halt, then dismounted. Their steeds secured, the hooded figures stared at the sight before them until at last one of the lead riders, known to the others for his tempestuous ways, snarled something unintelligible and stalked toward the dark cavern in the mountainside.

Buried in the side of Kivan Grath was a great gate of bronze that might have been as old as the peak itself, so ancient was its appearance. Once it had towered over onlookers, but no more. Now the gate hung awkwardly, a mortally wounded guardian frozen in midfall. Only one blackened hinge held it in place. The entire gate was a burnt memory of what once had been. Those who had been here before could recall how its surface had been decorated with a curious array of designs, but now the designs were gone, melted away by the terrible forces unleashed upon it by one mad power.

The one who had stalked forward suddenly faltered. The others did not move, as if waiting for something to happen. The tableau did not change for several anxious moments.

“Well?” questioned one whose tone was reminiscent of lapping waves. It had finally occurred to him how ridiculous he and his companions looked. “It isss not asss if we need to knock, now isss it?”

Abashed, the lead figure looked at the others, then turned once more to the gate and the pitch-dark abyss behind it. He then turned back to the one who had mocked them all. “A torch would be nice, eel!”

“Why not create our own light?” scoffed one of the younger ones, the same one who had thought to remove his hood during the ride. He held out a gloved hand. A glow formed in his palm.

“Not out here, you hatchling!” the young traveler’s partner snapped. He had to struggle to make himself be heard, for, as before, his voice was barely a rasping whisper. It proved sufficient for the task, however, for the glow instantly faded away.

“There are sssome . . . some things that should be observed,” added the one with the voice that spoke like the sea. He was visibly working to calm himself, an effort that the other riders immediately copied with greater or lesser results. “Some things that must be respected.”

“There should ssstill be a torch on the inssside,” gasped the whisperer. “Just beyond the gate.”

Steeling himself, the foremost walked up and reached inside, his gauntleted hand running along the wall. His fingers struck something not made of stone. “I have it.”

“Then light it and let us be done with this.”

“You would be wise not to strain your voice,” the young, impetuous one advised his compatriot, a hint of mockery flavoring his words.

Before his companion could form a retort, the others had the torch lit. The bickering figures quieted. Despite their distaste for one another, the band drew close together as they entered the battered passage. There were some fears-although none here would have admitted to such failings-that were stronger than hatred.

They walked for a short time through a tunnel that, while natural in origin, had also been improved upon by other means during the passage of time. Small shadow creatures fluttered away in vocal dismay at the intrusion of light, but the group ignored them. All other things paled in comparison to the place they had invaded.

The riders entered the main cavern.

Even in its ruined state, the cavern citadel left them in speechless awe. The interior resembled a temple, but one tossed asunder by a great upheaval. Effigies both human and otherwise lay strewn about, many shattered beyond recognition. Some still stood, frightful mourners at the funeral of their companions. Beyond them, at the focus of the chamber, was a cracked and half-buried throne atop a crumbling dais. Just before the massive stone seat, but buried by rubble from the collapsed roof of the cavern, was a wide open area where a full-grown dragon could have and had rested his massive form time and time again. The elder riders could recall the face and form of that reptilian behemoth. He had been a golden leviathan, the last of a line of scaled masters ruling the land called the Dragonrealm. The Dragon Emperor Gold.

A generation of men had grown since his death.

The one with the torch placed it in a location that would give them the necessary illumination for their undesired deed. Then the riders, forming a ragged half circle, knelt in homage: if not to the late tyrant, then to what he had represented.

A moment of silence passed before one rider, calmer than the rest, stepped forward and took the place where the Dragon Emperor, king of kings, would have stood. The others shuffled uneasily, but they knew that their companion sought only to speak, not to claim any right above them.

“Let the council convene.” His words were softly spoken, but in the huge, still cavern they were thunder.

The forms of the riders suddenly became twisted, grotesque. They grew, and as they did their bodies became quicksilver. All semblance to humanity quickly faded. From their backs burst wings-long, webbed wings-and below those, serpentine tails sprouted. Arms and legs became clawed, leathery appendages. Already each figure was many times larger than it had been, yet the growth did not slow.

The cloaks had all been thrown aside at the moment of transformation, briefly revealing to the shadows a band of tall, dread warriors, dragonhelmed knights clad in scale armor. That image quickly gave way, however, as helms and near-hidden features melded together into monstrous, reptilian visages with long, horrid snouts and toothy maws. The scaled armor became scaled hides of colors that varied from figure to figure. There were blue, red, black, green, and at least a pair more gray than anything else. Other differences were obvious, but none more than the colors.

Where but moments before the riders had been, now the Dragon Kings stood.

The dragons stretched their vast wings and eyed one another with deep-rooted suspicion. They remained in pairs as they had since the beginning of this trek, one beast in each duo obviously dominant over the other. The lesser drakes backed up a few paces, acknowledging their lower status. One or two did this with great reluctance.

From the ranks of the dominant leviathans, a dragon of the darkest black, a sly creature with a savage scar across his throat, sneered at his emerald-green counterpart, who stood in the center. When the black dragon spoke, his voice was barely a whisper. Each word seemed a torture for the ebony creature.

“I am sssurprised that you even asked us to join together, Brother Grrreeeen! It isss not asss if you could not do asss you pleased in thisss matter!”

“We are inclined to similar notions,” added a gray, preening drake, whose very tone made it clear that the “we” of his statement concerned him alone and not his companion. He plucked fastidiously at his hide, as if seeking something. In the past decade, as his interests had turned ever inward, the Dragon King Storm had begun to take on the airs of a would-be demigod. Among his brethren was a growing suspicion that he was going mad, a not uncommon affliction of drake lords. Yet, any who might have thought him a foolish sight need only listen for the iron in his voice to know that this was not a creature to be crossed. The Storm Dragon might be mad, but he was also one of the most deadly of those drake lords who remained.

The Green Dragon, master of the vast lands of the Dagora Forest, eyed them both. “I have always abided by the traditions.”

“Enough of this bickering!” snapped their blue counterpart. His breath smelled heavily of fish, which made the black one wrinkle his snout in disgust. “We have matters to discuss which have been delayed all too long!”

Reminded of their duty, the others quieted. Green nodded his gratitude to the Blue Dragon, lord of Irrilian by the Sea, and, with a withering glance at his ebony counterpart, returned to his self-chosen role of speaker. “As Brother Blue so succinctly put it, we have delayed much too long in discussing this particular matter . . . years too long.” He surveyed the group, its prominent members strikingly fewer than when last they had convened. “I refer, of courssse, to the ascension to the throne of the next Dragon Emperor.”

Among his fellows there was some shuffling and discomfort. None of them had looked forward to this day, if only because they were uncertain as to what it meant to their kind. To some, it was an opportunity to reclaim past glory; to others, it was a final turning point. In the back of all their minds was the fear that it was all for nothing: a mere joke.

Once, it would have not been so. Once, the lands known both separately and collectively as the Dragonrealm had trembled under the iron rule of the drake race. Thirteen kingdoms and thirteen kings, with the line of Gold serving as emperor over all. So it had been for centuries, with new Dragon Kings replacing their progenitors either through the process of age or, more often, through subterfuge and deceit. A drake who became king relinquished his own name and became known by the symbol his clans had chosen so long ago in the lost past. Most were colors, said to represent the various shades of the magical spectrum. A few had gone by the strongest or most regal of the metals, such as iron or silver. One clan had even chosen the violence of nature’s storms as its symbol.

The shape-shifting drakes were only the latest in a long procession of rulers who had risen to supremacy . . . and then had fallen. A few scattered remnants of some of their predecessors still existed, but most of the land’s previous tyrants had faded with the lengthy passage of history. It now appeared as if the dragon folk themselves were headed into oblivion . . . and all here knew the reason why.

Mankind. Weak, clawless creatures, their race yet prospered. The Dragon Kings knew that they themselves were to blame for much of that progress and expansion. Humans had proven so useful in many ways, more than making up for the drakes’ own lack of numbers. In time, their inventiveness and drive had made them indispensable to most of the Dragon Kings. Human cities had sprouted up and grown, their inhabitants loyal at first to their respective masters. But it was inevitable that as their own power grew, the new kingdoms chafed at the rule of monsters. Rebellions rose and were suppressed. Human kingdoms then grew subservient for a time, but when a new generation came into power, the cycle would often repeat itself.

Then came the sorcerers.

The Dragon Masters.

Human mages had always existed, and many had found their way into the services of the Dragon Kings. A few had desired to cause havoc, but ever the drake lords had kept a wary eye out for the strongest, the ones with the most potential for destruction. These were either recruited or destroyed. Some sorcerers, however, succeeded in remaining hidden from the drakes. They gathered others to them and bided their time, their only attacks being to undermine the foundation of drake rule. The Dragon Kings began to suffer a number of mishaps, small by themselves, but cumulative in effect. Despite the many mishaps, however, they did not realize what was happening. Only after many generations, when the mages decided the time was ripe for revolution and at last revealed themselves for what they were, did the draconian rulers realize the instability of their reign.

Thus began the Turning War. For nearly five years the battle was fought. For nearly five years the Dragon Kings lived in fear that they were at last to fall.

The Dragon Masters, though, had also underestimated a number of things, first and foremost the treachery of one of their number. Serving his own purpose, the traitor had killed several of the most prominent mages in the ranks, then fled before their leader, his father, could deal with him. Weakened, the sorcerers were finally defeated; but the victory was bittersweet, for in one of the final struggles, the drake lords had lost one of their own. Lord Purple, who had guided them in the actual fighting, died with the Dragon Master Nathan Bedlam. Both Purple’s kingdom and the secrets of his great sorcery fell into the claws of the Gryphon, ally to the Dragon Masters. Weakened as they were, the other Dragon Kings could not oust him.

Those gathered now had long ago come to realize that the victory they had garnered in the war had been only a temporary reprieve. They had won themselves two centuries of anxiety and suspicion. When all was said and done, the empire had still crumbled. Infighting and misjudgment had done what the Dragon Masters could not.

For some time, the remaining Dragon Kings eyed one another. Then, at last, the ruined voice of the Black Dragon, he who controlled the domain of the Gray Mists, broke the uneasy silence. “Of what need have we of an emperor . . . essspecially one raised by humanssss?”

“More to the point,” interjected a dusky green drake with touches of brown along his underside, “a Dragon Emperor raisssed by the grandssson of Nathan Bedlam!”

The dragon’s name was Sssaleese. Some of the others looked at the new speaker, open disdain on their reptilian countenances. In their eyes, this one was not a true Dragon King but a usurper, a pretender using the devastation of the drake race to his benefit. No birth markings had decorated his egg, of that they were certain. Yet, because he spoke for a loose confederation of clan survivors who had lost their own lords, it had been decided by the majority that his presence was required if this was to succeed.

Black had not been a part of that majority. The ebony drake sneered at the other and started to speak, but Green, recognizing the potential danger of those words, quickly replied, “Worthy comments both, but it would be well for all to remember that it wasss our rivalries and divisionsss which brought us to our present sssorry state.”

That drew the attention away from Sssaleese, but kindled a new disruption. Storm, the gray, looked mildly amused. “As we recall, the dissension was a part of life before the death of Gold.”

“Gold wasss Gold. Kyl, his heir, will be Gold in title only. He will ssstill be Kyl.” Green’s gaze swept across the cavern. “In that there isss all the difference! If we but give him our allegiance, our cooperation, then will we have what we desssire!”

“I ask again,” Black hissed. “What need have we of an emperor?”

Green shook his massive head. To the side, he heard Blue hiss in frustration. Blue understood what some of the others did not. The drake race was on the brink. If they did not come together soon, they faced extinction. The humans outbred them and now had clawholds everywhere. Green firmly believed that the tiny mammals now had the strength to annihilate his kind, and there were more than a few of the creatures who desired just that. Melicard I of Talak, whose father had been driven mad by the drake Kyrg, had already tried genocide. Worse, it appeared that the king of Zuu, Lanith, was massing an army and gathering what human mages of skill he could find. No one knew what he planned, but Zuu was a particularly disturbing point since it lay in the boundaries of the emerald giant’s domain. Lanith still gave his respects to Green, but grew ever more lax in responding to questions concerning Zuu’s increase in military strength.

“We need an emperor to give our kind focusss,” Blue returned, speaking in a manner one might use more for a child. “We need an emperor to show the humans that we are one, not many!”

“Yet you would give usss an emperor raisssed by humansss,” reminded Sssaleese, eyes darting to Black, who remained silent. “How could we trussst one raisssed by a Bedlam?”

“Raised by human and drake.” Green shook his head. “You sssee the disadvantages but not the advantagesss!”

“Could we not . . . ssspeak with him firssst?” an almost tentative voice asked.

The assembled drakes turned as one to the blood-red figure on the edge of the inner group. Although a Dragon King, Red was fairly new into his reign, a mere two decades or so. He had achieved his place upon the death of his progenitor on the sword of yet another Bedlam, Nathan’s mad son Azran. Unprepared, he had never found his proper place among his fellows. Even Sssaleese, who had clawed his way to his position, was more comfortable in the role of ruler.

“Ssspeak to him?” repeated the Green Dragon.

“Yesss . . .” Storm nodded. “We have only your word asss to his worth.” The gray behemoth met Green’s eyes. “We would be happier in thisss instance if we knew that the emperor-to-be isss worthy of the august title.”

“A notable suggestion,” agreed Blue.

Sssaleese added, “I would be interesssted alssso in the opportunity to make a judgment.”

Black merely nodded curtly. Red basked in the afterglow of his success and thus missed the look the Green Dragon briefly sent his way.

“Very well,” the emerald beast muttered. “I shall sssee to arranging sssuch a talk.”

“The Bedlamsss will never agree to it!” gasped the Black Dragon.

“Wait and sssee! I shall do what I can.” A pause, then, “And if the heir meetsss your questionsss? Then will you acknowledge his rightful place?”

The others acquiesced one by one with Black, of course, last.

“Ssso, then. The matter is settled. That leavesss but the details. . . .”

A short time later, the Dragon Kings departed through the broken bronze gate. In silence the band took charge of their steeds, mounted, and quickly left behind what had once been and might yet again be the Dragon Emperor’s stronghold. They rode together through the mountains, but when the Tybers gave way to more open land, the band quickly split into pairs. Some headed in an easterly direction, others more south. Only one pair headed directly west. Sssaleese and his second.

The would-be Dragon King and his companion rode hard for more than a quarter hour, never looking back once. They rode hard until they came upon a small range of hills, in truth a stunted outreach of the Tyber Mountains. Slowing their mounts, the two drakes entered the hills by one of the narrow paths that wound through the range.

When they were well within the protection of the hills, Sssaleese turned and glanced at his companion. The other drake, as nondescript a warrior as one of his kind could be, nodded. Both reined in their steeds. Only one moon was out this night, so Sssaleese could make out little more than the outline of the other, but he was certain that his companion was pleased. The confederation lord was not so certain that he shared that pleasure.

“You are sssatisssfied with what you have learned?”

“I am. They have not changed! They blunder around, each trying to take what he can without giving up anything! My sssire never trusted them! It wasss their fighting, their betrayal, that destroyed him! Now they ssseek to make the new emperor a puppet who will dance to their tune!”

Sssaleese did not respond at first. His situation was precarious, to say the least. He needed to be on fair terms with the Dragon Kings, yet there was much potential in taking a different course, especially if it meant the favor of the one who soon would sit upon the dragon throne.

Or stand behind it, he added. If the offer his companion had made him some months back held any truth, then the true lord of the drakes now sat in front of Sssaleese. “What will you do?”

The other considered. “The meeting will be a formality. They will find my brother a sssuitable candidate. All things may proceed as I planned.” The drake leaned toward Sssaleese. “Or do you have any misssgivingsss?”

The brown and green grew indignant. “We have made an agreement!”

“Yesss . . . one which allows both of usss much room for plotting our essscapes.” Sssaleese’s companion chuckled. “They did not recognize me! They never recognize me!”

“For which I am thankful! If they had known it wasss you, my life as well would have been forfeit.”

“Bah! You place too much confidence in their ssstrength. They are blussster!”

Sssaleese did not desire to pursue the conversation further. He had been subjected to his companion’s tirades before. What counted to him were results, not words. So far, there had been little of the former. Yet, before he dared depart, he once more had to ask one particular question. “How do you propose to make the young heir yours?”

Once more he received the same cursed answer. “He will be.”

There was no reply to that. Sssaleese shrugged. “I mussst return to my people. When shall we next meet?”

“I will contact you.”

Being at the beck and call of this one irked the new monarch, who felt that he should be given some respect for the position he had worked so hard to attain. Yet he was not about to push. This was one drake he did not care to cross. “Very well.”

Sssaleese turned his mount, intending to depart, when the other said, “We are kindred sssouls, friend. It isss usss against them! Their day is waning. We are the future, a place where the lack of proper birth markingsss does not mean one isss not fit to rule. . . .”

Sssaleese twisted around. “Let usss hope so, Duke Toma.”

Toma laughed, a harsh sound that echoed in the quiet night, and confidently replied, “Hope has nothing to do with it, dear Sssaleese! I should know!”