Rise of the DarkWalker: The Chronicles of Carter Blake, Book II

Dearbhaile finally found an open door leading outside. She ran forward and bounced off an invisible membrane, falling to the ground. She picked herself up and carefully moved to the door. Raising her hand, she reached out and touched the force keeping her trapped inside. ‘Is this a Wall of Force spell, or a Dimensional Anchor?’ Her hand slid up and around the barrier, trying to sense the spell. ‘It feels… sticky?’ She peered closer. ‘That doesnae seem right.’ Stepping back, she raised her hands. ‘Let’s try this.’

“Nepo.” Blue light shot from her hands and hit the barrier. The magic spread out and faded. “Should have known it wouldnae be tha’ easy.” She took a deep breath and concentrated, gathering the magical energy within her. “Kcolnu!” White light shot out and hit the shield. Once more, it spread out and faded. “Gods damnit! I be too close for this bloody thing tae stop me!”

Lips pinched, she raised her head, narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists. Her stomach tightened and limbs shook. She bit her lip, drawing blood. When she tasted the coppery flavor, she smiled. Red lightning flashed around her hands before they were thrust at the doorway.

A split second later, a section of the wall – about ten feet wide and nine high – vanished in an explosion of dust.

‘Great. It be raining.’

A gust of wind curled around her body, swirling her robes around her, and stinging her exposed skin. ‘Kellün’s ball, that be cold. Guess it be sleet and nae rain after all.’ As she headed to the hole her magic had blasted into the wall, a jagged white flash covered the sky.

Twenty seconds later, sound crashed around her, rumbling and boiling before fading away with an occasional grumble.

‘That be about sixteen wheels from here. A safe distance.’ She took a deep breath and headed out into the cold. ‘Ah just hope I be able tae find shelter before Ah succumb tae tha’ cold.’

###

Dunskillen was a fairly large town. It was dominated by the old castle looming over the outer walls. For more than three hundred years, it perched in the Deven Hills to the west of Dunskillen. The locals knew it as the Black Keep. Corath had known the builder and still called it Castle Stahl.

The wizard Anarawd constructed it to be a school and place to continue his studies while running the city as Lord Mayor. About thirty-two years after it was completed, Anarawd vanished. Local rumors attributed his disappearance to everything from an escaped demon lord extracting revenge for imprisoning it, to the wizard being killed by an uncontrolled magical eruption. The reality was the wizard had imprisoned several demi-gods, used their powers to turn himself into a lesser god and went to serve in Chokkan’s court.

The Gorauch shook his head, dismissing the memories and strode down the High Street to the Silver Dragon Inn, a bustling tavern where he usually gathered information. The air was alive with spices and honeyed scents. Candied nuts, exotic fruit, sweetbreads and glazed pastry lined the tables in the market, a gauntlet of temptation for those trying to hang onto hard-earned Nix. Vendors shouted to get the attention of wandering people while a nearby butcher sang loudly as he sharpened his knives. Slabs of beef hung next to dressed birds above fish resting on beds of crushed ice. Golden light played around the butcher’s hands as he waved it at buzzing flies, causing them to vanish.

Corath continued through the crowd of townsfolk, trying to keep too many from bumping into him, a favorite tactic of cutpurses. The rhythmic ringing of a hammer pounding steel came to him as he came close to Eigyr’s Arms. He paused, considering for a moment to see how she was doing, and maybe get his weapons sharpened.

The gregarious half-orc weapon smith was perhaps his favorite person in all the Realm. She was fond of trading stories with customers as they studied her wares. She’d frequently offer to spar with someone who wasn’t sure what weapon they wanted to buy, doing her best to maintain an aloof demeanor as they did.

‘Why not. She might have heard something about Carter.’

He waited and watched her work until she thrust the white hot metal in a barrel of liquid. It sank in with a hiss and a puff of flame which danced on the surface for a moment before going out.

“Hello, Eigyr.”

“Corath.” She dropped the hammer she’d been using on the anvil, yanked off her gloves and hurried around the counter. Throwing her arms around the elf, she hugged him tight.

“Oof, careful.” He said, coughing. “You almost crushed my ribs.”

“Pshh. Stop being a baby.” She beamed at him, her forest green eyes sparkling. “It’s been so long. What have you been up to?”

“The usual.” His smile thinned. “How about you?”

“Oh, you know.” She shrugged. “Still trying to find a man who can keep up with me.”

“Not even in the River Quarter?”

She laughed. “Oh, please. Those fools think more with their dicks than anything else.”

“I heard an orc named Bullmahn was certain he had what it took to, quote ‘tame that haruun blacksmith.”

Another shrug. “Never saw, nor heard of him.”

“How about Carter Blake? Heard of him?”

“The King?” She guffawed. “Who hasn’t?”

“The illegitimate king, you mean.”

“Shhh.” She placed her large hand over his mouth while looking frantically around. Seeing no one paying attention to them, she pulled him into her home, and shut the door behind them. “You have to be careful talking like that around here.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Not against the entire army of guards.”

He sighed. “You’re right.” He looked around.

Bookshelves shared space with display mannequins. Colorful tomes sat spine outward above and below swords, maces, daggers, and hammers. Some of the mannequins were fully dressed in complete armor sets. Others had only a few pieces. One only wore a helm. Scraps of leather, awls, spools of thread and various other tools were scattered on the table beside it.

An open book lay draped over the arm of a stuffed chair near a newly laid fireplace.

“Like what you see?” She waved her hand at the room.

He blushed and chuckled. “I do. I think this is the first time I’ve been in here.”

“It’s the first time any man has been in here.”

“Oh.”

“Why do you call Carter an illegitimate king?”

“He’s the one who murdered my brother.”

Her hand shot up and covered her mouth. “What?”

“I’ve been hunting him ever since.”

“I am so sorry, Corath. How can I help?”

“Do you know anything about his possible location?”

She shook her head. “All I’ve heard is the King has been missing for the last couple of weeks. He’s rumored to be looking for someone, or something, but I haven’t heard what, or who, it might be.”

“Thank you.” Corath turned to the door.

She reached out and touched his shoulder. “Would you like to stay for a while? Maybe have something to eat?”

He stopped and turned back. “I can do that.”

###

Carter yawned and stretched. His hand hit something hard that slid away with a clatter.

Something heavy enough to rock the ground landed nearby. He opened his eyes and glanced around. A rocky wall rose up to his left and the footsteps came from above his head where he lay and to the right. He rolled his head up and around, arching his back as he did, but he couldn’t see anything.

He flattened and then sat up before turning. What he saw took his breath away. It was a regal and statuesque silver dragon. It had a beautiful frill that began at the top of its head and flowed all the way down its neck and body to the tip of its tail. The frill was silver towards the body, fading to a purple hue at the edge. The dragon had two long, smooth silver horns with black tips, pointing up and back from its head, a pronounced sharp frill under the chin, which had the rough appearance of a goatee. The dragon also smelled like rain.

It stopped and stared down at Carter before sniffing him. “Where did you come from, Little One?” The dragon’s voice was a deep bass rumble. It was also masculine.

“An arena.” Carter blinked rapidly. “How did I end up here – wherever here is?”

“I do not know.” The dragon looked around Carter, checking something out. “When I left my nest, you were not here, yet when I returned, you were.”

He turned to see where the dragon was looking, and found large, oblong objects nearby. Their coloration was a bit cloudier than that of the dragon.

“Are these your eggs?”

“They are.”

Carter scrambled away, taking care not to touch any.

“My children are unharmed, human.” His voice was distinctly amused. “Fortunately for you.”

“Fortunately, period.”

The silver dragon brought his head closer, and puffed air in Carter’s face.

“Are you trying to intimidate me, dragon?”

“Belinthrax.”

“What?”

“My name. It is Belinthrax.”

“Is that your True Name?”

Belinthrax’ head shot up and he glared down at Carter. “Certainly not. Do you think I am that foolish?”

“I’m sorry, I recently learned of them, and just blurted out the first thing that popped into my head.”

“Do you often ‘blurt out the first thing that pops into your head’ as you say?”

Carter snorted. “According to my wife, I do it all the time.”

“Very well. I accept your apology. Try not to allow it to happen in the future.”

Carter peered around, taking in the vista behind Belinthrax.

“Are you a human?” The dragon brought his head down level with Carter’s.

He blinked. “Yes.”

“You do not smell as others of your kind.”

“What do they smell like?”

“The land and the seas.” Belinthrax moved away and curled up next to his eggs, nuzzling them. “You smell like the Abyss and the celestials.”

“Oh. I spend a lot of time there, trying to find my love.”

“Your love is your first, and it is faint. Is your love a demon?” The dragon shook his head. “Those ‘loves’ do not last.”

“Faint?” Carter furrowed his brow. “No. She’s not a demon. She’s a Renline.”

“An elf from the Kelthron Reaches?” The dragon rested his head on a rock near Carter’s leg. “I did not know any were still alive.”

“She was training to be a Keeper from a Vaush-Tauric when we met.”

His head rose from the rock. “Truly?”

“Yes, why?”

“They are usually hermits who do not like to be disturbed from their studies.”

“Which? Keepers, or Vaush-Taurics?”

“Vaush-Taurics.”

“Out of curiosity only - and please, don’t take this as me requesting otherwise – why haven’t you attacked me for being in your nest?”

“I intend to allow my mate to decide what to do with you.”

“Oh.”

Carter rose and an icy wind cut across his body. “Bloody hell.” He crouched down. “What happened to my clothes?”

Belinthrax bought his head closer to Carter and sniffed him again. “You seem to have left them behind.”

“But where? I don’t even know how I got here.” Carter peered around, looking for something to cover himself with.

“Should you not have wondered that before?”

“Probably, but I was distracted by meeting a silver dragon.”

“Platinum.”

Carter paused. “What?”

“I am a platinum dragon, not a silver. Silvers are lesser dragons, closer to drakes than full bloods like myself.”

“I was taught drakes were younger dragons.”

Belinthrax rumbled. “A myth we allow to perpetrate. No, Burned Celestial, drakes are lesser dragons. There are three types of dragonkind. Full bloods, drakes and wyverns.”

Carter raised his left hand with middle and index fingers extended. “Two questions. One, why did you call me ‘Burned Celestial?’” His middle finger dropped. “Two, what’re the differences in dragon types?”

“You smell like a burned celestial, so that is what I named you.” The dragon stretched out next to his eggs. “Wyverns have a pair of hind legs instead of a set of four. Where my forelegs are, a wyvern has its wings. They also have a poisonous stinger at the tip of their long, thin tails. Drakes resemble us, but without wings. They’re also a lot smaller than us, with the biggest being only the size of a large horse. We True Bloods are either Chromatic, or Metallic, based on the coloration of our scales.”

“As a platinum dragon, you’re clearly a Metallic, right?”

A nod from the dragon confirmed his guess.

“Why haven’t you killed me, Belinthrax?”

“My first instinct was to do so. However, your scent intrigued me enough I decided to satisfy my curiosity instead.”

“Wouldn’t that have been reckless? What if I’d been here to steal your eggs, or smash them?”

The dragon rumbled. “You would have been encased in a block of ice before you got far.”

Before Carter could say anything else, a dark shadow covered them, and another platinum dragon landed on the plateau.

A feminine voice came from this one. “Why is the Walker of Worlds in our nest and naked?”