Cyrus walked into the great room of the castle, his axe burning in his
hands. Several chests, some closed others shattered, lie scattered all over the
floor of this massive room. The room had the reek of death in the air; charred
bodies sprawled over the floor with outstretched arms reaching for treasure
they died trying to take. A movement caught Cyrus' attention. A great red
dragon stepped into the dim light that shone through the broken roof. Wisps of
smoke curled from the nostrils of the great beast, the light catching its face,
making its eyes gleam and sparkle. Cyrus looked at its face curiously, a vague
memory sweeping just out of reach of recognition. The dragon bellowed, the
words deafening the fighter as he spoke them.
“I have you alone now, just as it was written. Your fate will be sealed
by me.”
Without warning the great beast reached a vicious claw towards Cyrus. The
fighter barely had time to dodge out of the way, the claw raking his face and
upper torso. Waves of pain shot through him as he fell to the floor. The great
dragon laughed hideously, the booming baritone echoing off the walls of the
great room. As Cyrus stared through the haze of his dimming vision, the dragon
took on the consistency and color of smoke, seemingly gliding across the floor
towards him. It inhaled and shot a cone
of fiery death to end the man's life.
Cyrus shot up from where he
lay, his eyes darting back and forth in confusion. He had no idea where he was
at, only a vague memory of being hit in the head. He was in a dark room that
seemed slightly familiar to him. As he felt around for his weapon, the door
opened and a shadowy figure walked in. Looking around desperately for a means
of quick escape and finding none, he jumped from the bed he was lying on,
hoping he could surprise the person enough to beat him down and take his
weapon. A flash of light blinded him. His head pounded and he felt as if he was
falling, dizziness staggering him back to the bed. A hand grasped his shoulder
firmly, helping him back to a lying position. When the flashes of light in his
eyes began to dissipate, he saw the concerned stare of McGowan peering down on
him, a hooded lantern in his hand.
“Please don't try to get up.
You took quite a blow to the head. You're all right now, but you need to rest.”
Cyrus looked up at his friend
in confusion, finally realizing he was in their room back at the inn.
“What happened?” he asked.
“You were attacked in an
alleyway not far from here. Thordex was able to hide himself in the shadows
until your attackers left. He said all they did was take your coin purse, but
it could have been worse. Apparently when one of them tried to touch your axe,
it nearly killed him. Apparently, blue flame engulfed the man’s body and scared
away his companions. Burned him pretty badly.”
“Burned him, huh? Maybe I
should do what you told me to do a long time ago and have that thing
identified. Where's Thordex now?”
“Downstairs with Avengard and
Balifore. He's pretty shaken up about the whole ordeal. I'll let the others
know you're okay too. I believe our little halfling friend wanted to check on
you. You’ve been out since last night and he’s been worrying himself sick.”
McGowan left the room, leaving
Cyrus to ponder the dream he had. A sudden thought occurred to him. The dragon.
That’s where the answer lay. The object Malkar sought had been nearly in the
clansman's grasp years ago, but he had not thought about its significance until
now. He tried to focus on the door when Thordex and the others walked in. The
halfling dashed to Cyrus' side and patted the big man's chest.
“I'm sorry, Cyrus. I should
have followed you into the alley, but I thought you had everything under
control. I had seen the girl reach for something and wanted to cry out, but I
thought if I did that they would kill us both. I wanted to jump in and help
you, but I didn’t think I could handle them alone. If they would have tried to
kill you, I would have stopped them, but I...I mean, what I'm trying to say
is...” A single tear streaked down the halfling's face.
Cyrus reached over to grasp Thordex's
shoulder. “Don't let it bother you, chicken feet. I've taken worse blows
before. Everything will be better soon.” He shook the little rogue lightly, a
slight grin forming across his face.
Thordex leaned closer to the
warrior's ear. “I just didn't want to lose you as I lost Darius.”
Cyrus turned to him. “Don't
worry. You won't.”
“I have to tell you something.”
The rogue started. “I've been hiding something from all of you since we reached
Metier.” The halfling wiped his eyes with the back of his hand as he told them
of his past encounters with the crazy old man from the shack.
Gazing at his little friend's
face, Cyrus' expression softened. “You can't blame yourself for Darius' death, Thordex.”
He coaxed, placing a gentle hand on the rogue's shoulder. Thordex shuddered
from the touch, but didn't pull away. “We all knew what we were getting into
back then. It wasn't your fault. Don't you remember what Balifore told us
earlier?”
Thordex looked at him, grief
shadowing his face. “You don't understand! I could have prevented it, but I
refused to believe it. If I had told you guys then, he would still be here
today.” The halfling began to cry again. “Now the old man says someone else
will die.”
Cyrus shook the rogue briskly.
“Don't tear yourself up like this! I didn't know it then, but I know it now.
Darius had fulfilled his destiny when he walked this realm. He gave his life
for all of us. Night after night I wish I had been on that altar in his place.
We can't change the past though. Know only that he died so we could fulfill our
own destinies.”
Cyrus paused briefly. “Know
only that he died protecting you from that same fate. He loved you like a
brother, Thordex. I know he would have done it a thousand times over if he had
to, just to protect us.”
Thordex forced a smile. Cyrus
whirled around to look at Avengard and the others, who were staring at them and
nodding their heads, then turned back to Thordex.
“Have you told them the story
yet?”
Thordex backed away as Cyrus
rose to a sitting position slowly, the pain showing on his face. He looked at
his friends as they stared at him, probably wondering how this would affect
their task. Cyrus met their eyes one at a time; now knowing they would follow
him wherever he wanted to go.
Avengard cleared his throat
then, answering his companion's question.
“We were informed of the tale.
McGowan and I just returned from the Sanctum. According to the tome that was
laid open on the desk, The Eye of Immortality is the artifact he’s been
looking for.”
“According to the Sanctum’s
bookkeeper,” McGowan added, “one of the books is missing. It’s
the tale of the bard and his companions you were told last night. Now it’s just
a matter of finding out what his next move will be so we can catch him before
he gets his hands on it.”
Cyrus smirked. “It was what
Zolaar told us in Tiermane that helped me to fill in the blanks, so to speak.
He said that Malkar wanted Balifore alive to question him about the item’s
location. Balifore, ultimately, was the key to this whole puzzle. We were left
wondering what he could know until I heard the tale. You see, I remember a
story I was told a couple of years ago by Balifore about how he exiled that
demon Blaspherion from a small town many years ago.”
Balifore nodded as he tried
sorting out exactly what happened that day. “I'll give him that. I admit I did
run the demon out of Tiermane, but what does the rest of the story have to do
with me? I never knew, nor have I ever known, the location of this bard.”
“I believe the bard was not
killed as everyone thought. Four knights protected him, you know. A fight
involving Peacekeepers is more than likely going to draw some attention. If
they had died there, the story we were told would have ended quite differently.
I think they got out by means of a transport spell or a secret passage of some
kind under the city.”
McGowan shook his head,
confused. “I still don't see what that has to do with Balifore. If the gem is
what Malkar's looking for, how would Balifore know where it is?”
“Malkar wanted Balifore because
he knows where Blaspherion was going.” Cyrus smiled as if about to
reveal a great secret. “Thordex,” he began as he looked towards Balifore. “What
was the dragon's name that we fought at Dragon’s Keep?”
“Slag. We all remember that.”
“I mean the beast's true name?”
The rogue thought a moment,
suddenly remembering and understanding. “Terronsan-Ith! I knew that name
sounded familiar. You mean the dragon we killed is the same one in the legend?”
Balifore looked to the others,
the pieces suddenly falling into place. “Blaspherion was heading towards Dragon
Keep looking for Terronsan-Ith when I banished him. That’s why I went there and
found you just after your battle with the beast. Hearing that the beast was already dead was all I needed to know,
so I pursued the matter no further. But, if you killed the dragon, then he
didn't possess this stone from the story. Wouldn't it have made him immortal?”
Cyrus nodded. “Yes, it would.
We were, at first, doing nothing to faze the beast. The battle had seemed lost
until Darius had struck a blow hard enough to jar the stone loose from Slag’s
eye socket.” He looked to Balifore. “I remember, right towards the end of the
battle, that Slag was roaring hysterically and throwing everything around
trying to find his ‘eye’. He was ignoring us almost completely. I knew it was
probably the gem he was referring to so I attempted to grab it and use it to
strike a bargain.”
“I remember something too,
Cyrus.” McGowan interrupted, a sullen look on his face. “When Slag maimed you,
he began to burn the area where you were standing. He didn’t let up until
Daryus struck the final blow that broke his neck. There was an awful lot of
fused gold left behind from his treasures that we never took the time to sort
out.”
Balifore, deep in thought,
looked up in surprise. “Slag concealed the gem where he believed you’d never
reach. He buried it within a tomb of melted gold.”
