Quest for the Dragon Soul Pt. 05

Through much hardship and danger and loss of life, only cindered pages of the encyclopedia could be rescued from Phezkesh -- but on the way back had found an oracle, but they had also captured the attention of the growing Call of Skaelor. And the war with the Call had been brutal and long and the Magi Dominii had lost -- and the Call awaited the birth of their new world while humanity awaited judgment and the rebirth of magic. The late oracle Cyphelia Desjaines had warned them that Khaln, the carrier of the Pneuma Draconis, would have to taste both sides before he would choose -- which was why the Qoazti archer Ziel-Tan had been dispatched to infiltrate the Vanguard Draconis as a means to ascertain Khaln's location and bring him into the fold of the Seeded council. But they were given Bailla'Tayne Jeva instead -- and the child she carried gave her power unheard of since the days of the Great Wizard War.

Odeena took to a cup of water and sipped it while her mind churned -- the parting words she shared with Bailla'Tayne Jeva were troubling. Odeena might not be able to read the gods's will in events like the oracle Cyphelia Desjaines, but she was sure the child Jeva carried was a causal nexus like her father was. The child's birth would either fulfill or trigger a new prophetic stream -- Odeena cursed the oracle's murder even though she had vowed to do the same once her purpose had been served. So Bailla'Tayne Jeva and the child of Khaln Dharrec had to die so that he could fulfill his purpose without distraction. The Crone wondered if the god Thull'Achar, Cyphelia's patron, mourned the death of his last oracle -- she also wondered what became of the oracle's eyes.

It was then that a rumble shook the walls of the underground city.

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General Dagleon Talveiss was drinking a cup of wine as he looked down upon the battered and unconscious wizard Thierann of Gul'Vadesh.

"What happened?" the general asked, his voice a raspy echo in the old wizard's chamber.

The general had been attempting to meet with Odeena the Crone and recount his experience with Vynrha Peq when Ziel-Tan had fetched him to join her and Maca-Jal, leader of the Qoazti Companion, at Thierann's bedside.

"He was duped by that bitch Odeena," Ziel-Tan growled. "He ran afoul some kind of demon called Nekka Adzur that Odeena tasked with preventing him from inquiring upon Cyphelia's fate."

"What happened to the demon?"

"It disappeared when we broke into the room it had the Moaning Wind," Maca-Jal answered.

The general turned and eyed the one-eyed archer with a wary glance. "How long was he in there?"

"A few hours," Ziel-Tan said as she played with her long, reddish braid of hair. She was suddenly aware of high tension between Dagleon and Maca-Jal -- she had always known there was a rivalry between the two. Maca-Jal had been her lover before she took the oath of Tiengal the Blind and became a Qoazti archer. Once the oath taken and he was her leader, their relationship floundered. But when she met the older general and fell in love, Maca-Jal had taken to calling her little arrow, as he did when they had been intimate. Dagleon had noticed the intimacy and met Maca-Jal's hard stare -- but even one of the greatest archers in the world could not meet Dagleon Talveiss's icy stare for long.

" A few hours? You let him go in there alone?" The general glared, openly challenging Maca-Jal.

"He demanded it!" Maca-Jal yelled and his hand dropped to the talon shaped knife at his waist. "We obey when ordered, general." Maca-Jal then violently nudged the general aside as he left the chamber. The squat general barely moved.

"Will his wounds heal?" Dagleon asked as Ziel-Tan took the cup he held and sipped the warm wine.

"The healer said the wounds had an aura of dark magic about them but that her counter spells would allow his body to rebuild," Ziel-Tan answered while handing the general his cup of wine. "It will take time though -- with the healer's spells countering the dark auras, he'll have to heal naturally."

"Is there any truth to Maca-Jal's accusation against the Crone?"

"Thierann's been coming in out of consciousness -- he says he read Cyphelia's fate was written in blood and that Odeena lead him there."

"This couldn't have happened at a worse time," the general growled, slamming his cup on a table. "I was counting on him being able convince the Council that there are forces acting beyond the Call of Skaelor."

"What happened in the caves, Dagleon?" Ziel-Tan asked as the general's gaze became distant.

"I witnessed something ... horrible, Ziel. I saw a woman suffer for no reason. I saw people turned to soulless monsters. I saw my ni ... my niece crumble before my very eyes."

"Your niece? But ... you told me you have no family."

"That was another secret, Ziel-Tan. Before I came to Melit'Zay -- before I held Eldrath'Zhil, there was once a kingdom called Welhanneir. It was far to the northeast of the Cardinal Roads, bordered by rivers and mountains and skies. Its last king was Delgerd. Its last queen was Yffega. My parents. I had a beloved sister -- Silslaug."

"You're telling me your royalty?" Ziel-Tan asked, her voice trembling with anger.

"I was stripped of my title before you were born, Ziel. Hexlzard of Welhanneir died long ago and Dagleon Talveiss arose from the ashes of that life."

The Qoazti archer Ziel-Tan glowered at the general she called lover, realizing that after three years she knew nothing of this man. She had given him her heart and he had given nothing, not even his true name.

But before she could demand more of the general, the walls of Lord Thierann of Gul'Vadesh's chambers cracked and rubble fell from the ceilings as the foundations of the underground city were rocked.

General Dagleon Talveiss rushed out of the recuperating wizard's chambers and sprinted towards his chambers to fetch Eldrath'Zhil. Whatever magic was at play, be it divine or profane, it would know the wrath of the Spell Breaker.

VII

Khaln Dharrec watched from the bow of the massive barge pillaged from the death of the Dread lord Ax'Herith as the emptied husk of a shelled whale, made into a quick and powerful sailing ship, accosted the swaying barge and dropped anchor. The night sky had cleared and the moons poured down their light upon the rippling surface of the Ardent sea. Khaln scanned the smaller vessel, noting the mounted shred bolt launcher and the squads of Scything Souls that manned the various rigging that managed the tall sales. He noticed their forms were more uniform than that of those he had previously encountered -- they were more human in appearance. He also recognized the silhouettes of the remaining Matrons, including the recently crowned Matron Inludidae. His hand dropped to the hilt of the sword Ax'Herith as three mooring lines sprang from the smaller vessel's main deck to be secured to the barge. Three of the Scything souls on the barge tied the ropes to thick iron rings that stuck out from the barge's deck.

Tiephy, the former Matron Sonorous and Voice of the Call of Skaelor, slid down a line from a tall pole to join Khaln as he watched the unison of the two vessels be completed. Khaln's gaze hardened as a figure emerged from the shadows of the smaller vessel and began to walk across the loosely dangling rope. It wore a cloak of wool with a fur trimmed hood -- it was pulled back and a man's handsome face could be seen. Beyond his face however was the evidence of the twisted magic that had shaped his new existence: his skull was exposed, glistening bone that leaked from several cracks. The skin along his shoulders, arms and chest was shredded ribbons exposing flexing muscles and creaking bones as he walked. Droplets of black ichor fell into the sea.

His deep brown eyes met the smooth face of the former Matron Sonorous and she shuddered. "That is the Warden of the Seas, the Dread Lord Oczeloth. My husband."

Khaln nodded grimly as the Dread Lord hopped off the mooring line and landed silently on the deck. The Scything Souls that had attended the lines bowed in his presence and the Quieting Angels that nestled silently across the sides of the barge opened their cloud shrouded wings in respect.

The other three Matrons also crossed over the mooring ropes and stood with the Dread Lord Oczeloth and flanked him as Khaln and Tiephy greeted them.

"Welcome to what remains of my ship," Khaln said as he spread his arms and invited the Dread Lord and the matrons to survey the aftermath of the battle with the beast Nyeahdhhdsak.

"I heard you came across it only recently," the Dread Lord Oczeloth said. "A pity you've let it fall so quickly to ruin."

"The waters have been rougher than I'm accustomed to -- I'm not the most accomplished sailor."

The Dread Lord smiled and looked at Tiephy. "Nor are you in the most experienced sailing hands."

"Now that the pleasantries are over, Dread Lord," Khaln said as he drew the sword Ax'Herith and planted its stout tip in the deck and rested his ham sized fist on its pommel. "Why are you here? To avenge your brethren?"

The Dread Lord Oczeloth stepped forward with his palms up and said: "I have no quarrel with you, Khaln Dharrec, second son and Porter of the Pneuma Draconis. You are on quest to deliver the Dragon Soul and must face the tests presented to you the best you can. I laud your progress and any decision you may take. However, my business is with the Matron Sonorous -- her actions in the demise of the Dread Lord Ax'Herith cannot be abided."

Khaln stepped protectively between the Dread Lord Oczeloth and the former matron Sonorous. "Tiephy is traveling under my protection -- any quarrel with her is also with me."

"This will complicate matters. Second Son," the Dread Lord Oczeloth warned and his cloak spread open and warped into a web of snakelike limbs topped by the heads of a great sea beasts while the furry trim of the cloak's hood turned to a series of rattling blades.

Khaln's eyes glowed with red fury that made the very air they stood in reverberate with an unknown menace.

That is, until the former Matron Sonorous raised her hand.

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The maze of circular corridors and cavernous chambers that formed the underground city beneath the capitol of the Arcane Academies, Melit'Zay, was rocked by tremors that emanated from the Seeded Council chamber, situated beneath the Heliogopol, the highest tower at the center of the great city.

Soldiers and civilians alike scrambled in the tunnels, gathering the young and the old and injured and the healthy and fought to lead them to the various passages that lead back to the surface. None wanted to die, entombed beneath a dead city, but nor did any wish to die trampled by frightened masses seeking the shelter of open air.

General Dagleon Talveiss had retrieved the sword Eldrath'Zhil and, after joining up with his lieutenant Liervel and the ceremonial guards of the Seeded Council, they ventured towards the sealed council chamber beneath the Heliogopol.

"Why is this sealed?" the general asked, his husky, injured voice compelling despite the thunderous booms shaking the seeming fabric of reality itself.

Liervel pulled at the massive rings that ornamented the front of the closed chamber -- he gestured and two other well muscled guards joined him and they tugged with all their might at the doors. Frustrated, Liervel began to hack at the great doors and his guardsmen did the same with their powerful bardishes. Each strike from the heavy headed weapons splintered the doors ever slightly but not enough to cause any real damage.

As General Dagleon Talveiss watched his men hack away at the massive wood doors, he unsheathed

Eldrath'Zhil and watched as the blade gave off a faint green hue. The quakes were fueled by magic and green identified native magic.

"Move!" the general barked and launched himself at the doors -- when the blade stuck the wood, the sword lived up to its moniker as Spell Breaker and magic binds that held the doors secure shattered, making the doors blast outwards with the next tremor to shake the underground city. Undaunted, the general lept over the remains of the doors and entered the council chamber.

There, he found a line of archers from the Qoazti Companion, their bows at the ready and arrows knocked. To their side laid the body of Albous the Tribune, a member of the Seeded Council and, judging from the green glow around his hands, the wizard who had held the doors bound by magic. General Dagleon Talveiss then looked beyond the archers and saw horror: Odeena the Crone was held against a far wall as streams of red lightning struck her ankles and wrists, painfully holding her in place. The edges of her simple gray robes were scorched and she bled from her nose and lips.

The leader of the Qoazti Companion, Maca-Jal, kneeled by the figure of a very pregnant Bailla'Tayne Jeva, while she screamed from the duress of her labor. Pools of red light pulsated near the surface of her belly and were the origin of the streamers of red lightning that bound Odeena the Crone. General Dagleon Talveiss noticed Maca-Jal held two dark stones in his hand but before he could properly identify them, he was pushed harshly to the ground -- he looked up as he fell and saw that Ziel-Tan had joined him, but they had both been shoved aside by Liervel as a flight of arrows were unleashed by the Qoazti Companion.

Liervel grunted as three arrows hit him, 2 in his lower belly and third sprouting from the back of his neck, dripping dark red blood down the back of his bronze chain mail shirt. He dropped to his knees and general Dagleon Talveiss crawled over to his second in command. But it was too late as the lieutenant's eyes were dilated and empty and the general had to veer away from his lieutenant as two more arrows struck the dead soldier and knocked his limp body back.

"Little Arrow!" Maca-Jal shouted from over the crackling energies that filled to room -- his use of Ziel-Tan's nickname pulled a growl from the general's throat while Ziel-Tan drew her bow and knocked an arrow.

"Little Arrow! You know where you belong." Maca-Jal was standing now, dressed in his boiled leather armor and his hair pulled back in the traditional braids of the chief of the Qoazti Companion while his scarred right eye was covered by a strip of leather lined with red silk.

"Our loyalty was to the Oracle, Jal," Ziel-Tan shouted. "Our loyalty was to each other."

"Where was your loyalty when you chose Talveiss over me?" Maca-Jal growled, his one good eye shedding a tear at the memories of the good times he shared with Ziel-Tan.

Ziel-Tan, Qoazti archer and second in command of the now traitorous Companion, bristled as she was reminded of the traditions of her people and their penchant for arranged marriages. She turned and looked at her general -- or prince Hexlzard of Whellaneir -- and she became enraged.

"My choices are my own!" Ziel-Tan shouted as she threw herself into the path of the archers loyal to Maca-Jal -- their arrows flew over her rolling body and kept the ceremonial guards outside the chamber at bay. In a series of smooth motions she sidestepped incoming arrows and unleashed her own. Tiengal the Blind was the patron of the Qoazti Companion but he favored Ziel-Tan as her arrows found their mark on each shot and the line of archers between her and Maca-Jal was crumbling in a rain of screams and blood.

"Aearrgghh! I don't want this anymore!" Bailla'Tayne Jeva screamed as the fetus in her womb demanded its freedom and she fought to push it out -- as she screamed, a fountain of red, liquid light shot up from her belly and doused the walls and the floors with stinging sparks while bubbles of eldritch energies traveled the length of the streamers that held Odeena the Crone captive against the far wall.

Maca-Jal looked down at the crying mother to be while Ziel-Tan exchanged arrows with the Qoazti Companios -- he touched Bailla'Tayne Jeva's cheek and whispered: "I know its hard. But the promise is too great to give up now, Lady Jeva. Our world will be safe once this child is born. But I have to give it its vision first."

General Dagleon Talveiss had jumped into the fray and wrapped his powerful hands around the head of a Qoazti who had surreptitiously targeted Ziel-Tan from behind and the general snapped his neck. Ziel-Tan felt the general's presence and gazed at him, her one eye crazed with blood lust when the air in the room crackled and a shock wave knocked them back. The general scrambled to his feet in time to see Maca-Jal reach between Bailla'Tayne Jeva's thighs -- he held two gems in his hands, and Dagleon Talveiss realized they were the eyes of the murdered Oracle Cyphelia Desjaines. Dagleon drew Eldrath'Zhil and lept over splintered pews while Ziel-Tan aimed and loosed an arrow at her former lover and leader of the Qoazti Companion. Maca-Jal was oblivious to their approach as he found Bailla'Tayne Jeva dilated vulva and pressed the eyes against the mucus covered crown of the arriving newborn. When the eyes of the fallen Oracle touched the child, Bailla'Tayne Jeva screamed till her lungs and throat ached with anguish. The red fountain of eldritch energies and the crackling lightning that bound Odeena the Crone swirled into a scarlet vortex that sank back into Bailla'Tayne Jeva's midsection. Once the vortex was absorbed, the light reappeared as a column of red light rising from Bailla'Tayne Jeva's belly and her eyes while a cone of light shot out from between her thighs. Her face was contorted in a silent scream while her body arched and twisted twitched as the fully formed fetus spilled from her womb.

General Dagleon Talveiss and Ziel-Tan, formerly of the Qoazti Companion, watched in horror as the child born from the union of Bailla'Tayne Jeva and Khaln Dharrec crawled away from its mother, bits of mucus and placenta falling from its form. The child screamed in a divine ecstasy while its face broke and reshaped itself to accommodate the gifted eyes of the fallen oracle Cyphelia Desjaines -- its bones splintered and stretched as the child began to grow. Dagleon raised his sword to strike but the child turned to him with its lipless mouth and a ball of red energy sprang from it -- he raised Eldrath'Zhil in time to block the sphere, but when it broke on the sword, the pieces became a swarm of shards of crystal that lacerated his hands and face. He had to fall back and exit the chamber or risk all flesh being flayed from his skull. Ziel-Tan, witnessing her lover's duress, unleashed and arrow at the profane creature that emerged from Bailla'Tayne Jeva's womb. But even as the arrow flew, the deformed child raised and undefined hand and the arrow vanished, only to reappear behind Ziel-Tan. It lost none of its momentum and the Qoazti archer howled as the arrow shattered her right shoulder blade and pierced out from the skin above her breast.

Maca-Jal fell to his knees before the child he was promised by the strange presence that came to him in a dream -- the child would cast away the Call of Skaelor and the Magii Dominii and the world would then belong to those who had faith. He looked down at the whimpering form of Bailla'Tayne Jeva.

"You should be proud of what you have created, Lady Jeva," Maca-Jal consoled the crying warrior. "This is truly the instrument that will remake the world. But sacrifices must be made." Maca-Jal grabbed a handful of Bailla'Tayne Jeva's wildly grown hair and yanked her head back, exposing her throat as he reached for his hawk billed dagger.

As the leader of the Qoazti Companion readied his dagger to slit Bailla'Tayne Jeva's throat, the swarm of scarlet crystals that had chased off general Dagleon Talveiss and kept him and his soldiers at bay fell to the ground in a mist of fine dust. Maca-Jal glared at the doorway as the limping lord Thierann of Gul'Vadesh, the last, full powered wizard of the Magii Dominii, entered the chamber of the Seeded Council and spoke.