Dragonvein (Book Two) (2 page)

“Everyone else should go,” announced Halvar.

“That means you, Jonas,” said Ethan.

“I’ll do no such thing,” he protested.

Ethan smiled up at him. “If it is a trap, you’ll need to find a way to release Lylinora.”

“If you die, there will
be
no one to release her,” he countered.

“Kat has talent,” he said. “Maybe she can. And if not her, who other than you could find someone to do it?”

Jonas furled his brow and clenched his jaw, but said nothing. After letting out a loud and very expressive huff, he spun on his heels and marched away.

Once the room was clear, Markus and Ganix took a seat on either side of Ethan. Steeling his nerves, he picked up the crystal.

For a few seconds nothing happened. Then, gradually, he felt the crystal’s surface grow warmer. A tiny vibration tickled his palm.

“Ah, you came.”

The sudden voice from several yards away startled Ethan. He leapt up from his chair. Sitting at the opposite end of the chamber was a man dressed in a black silk shirt. His blond hair fell to his shoulders, and a smile accentuated his attractive features.

“What’s wrong?” asked Markus.

Ethan pointed to the man. “Don’t you see him?”

“They can’t see me,” he said. “Only you can.”

“What does he look like?” asked Ganix.

Ethan described what he saw while the man waited patiently.

“You aren’t what I expected,” said the man. “Not much like your father at all.”

“You knew my father? Who are you?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “And not very bright either. But I suppose a life on Earth may have limited your education.” He paused and gave Ethan a long scrutinizing look, as if sizing him up. “But it’s of little matter. To answer your question, I am Shinzan.”

“Are you really here?”

“In a sense, yes,” he replied. “These fools wouldn’t know how a
menax
crystal really works. If they did, I doubt they would have been so eager to give it to you.”

The implication behind these words caused Ethan’s nerves to fray.

Shinzan held up a hand. “You needn’t fear. I have no intention of harming you. But now that we are connected, it will be quite easy for me to find you whenever I need to.”

“So this was all just a trick,” Ethan retorted sharply.

“Not at all. But it was the only way to see you without the risk of you being killed.”

“And why should you care about that?”

Shinzan smiled. “I have my reasons. What is important for you to know is that you cannot run. There is nowhere in Lumnia where I will be unable to find you. But don’t worry. If you heed my words, none of that will matter.”

“The letter you sent stated that you had an offer,” Ethan said, his irritation and dismay with himself rising. He should have listened to Jonas. If there
really
was nowhere to hide and Shinzan could now locate him whenever he felt like it, he had endangered every one of his friends even more than before.

“Indeed I do,” Shinzan replied. “My offer is this. Go home. Go back to Earth and leave this world to me. Do that, and I promise to leave you in peace.”

Before Ethan could respond, Shinzan’s face hardened. As it did so, a menacing shadow crept up from behind him. Within seconds, its darkness had enveloped the entire chamber.

When the Emperor spoke again, his voice was as harsh as his expression. “If you don’t, I will kill every living soul in this rat hole of a mountain. I will slaughter them like sheep and bathe in their blood. And their deaths will be on your hands.”

Ethan could feel the air growing colder – so cold that his breath was billowing out in fog like clouds. Fear gripped his heart, and he struggled to keep his voice from trembling. “I can’t do that,” he said. “Even if I wanted to, I’m not able.”

The shadow remained for another long moment before finally receding. At the same time, the temperature gradually rose back to normal and the ice in Shinzan’s eyes melted away. Within seconds, his expression was once again friendly and warm. “Of course you can,” he said. “I can help you. But first you must come to me. I can open a portal to send you back.”

Ethan burst out laughing. “Are you serious? You must think I’m
really
stupid.”

“I think you care for your friends,” he responded calmly. “I also think that by now you are well aware that I can and will make good on my promise.”

His form began to fade. “The choice is yours. But choose quickly.”

Once Shinzan had completely vanished, the crystal in Ethan’s hand instantly turned to dust. He stared at the grains for a moment or two, then tossed them onto the floor.

“What did he say?” asked Markus.

Ethan remained silent for a few moments before telling them of his offer…and of the connection that Shinzan had now achieved.

“If he can find you anywhere, then that’s definitely a problem,” said Markus.

“Not yet,” said Ganix. “But it will be once he leaves the mountain.”

Ethan straightened his back. “No…it won’t.”

“What do you mean?” demanded Markus.

“I mean I’m going to accept his offer,” he told him flatly.

Markus grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. “Are you crazy? He’ll kill you.”

“Probably. But if I don’t, he’ll come here and kill everyone.”

“I’m not so sure,” said Ganix. “Shinzan is not known for mercy or kindness. I think there must be more to this than we know. He could have come already, and yet he has not. He says that he cares nothing about you and that you are no threat, and yet he beckons you to him.” He scratched his beard, absently twirling the wiry hairs with his fingers. “For now, I think you should do nothing.”

“And if Shinzan comes?” asked Ethan.

“We still have the option of sealing the mountain,” he replied. “But something tells me it won’t come to that. No. Whatever his plan is, he wants you alive.”

Ethan thought for a moment. “Then what do I do now?”

“First of all we need to free Lylinora,” Ganix said. “Then…well, we’ll figure that out when the time comes.”

After giving Ethan a reassuring smile, he called King Halvar and the elders back into the chamber.

The reaction to Shinzan’s message was mixed. Some suggested that Ethan should flee, while others felt that he should remain in the mountain. Halvar was conspicuously silent as he listened to the nervous bickering.

“It’s clear that Ethan should not turn himself over to Shinzan,” Jonas announced after a time. “That any of you would suggest he do such a thing…”

“No one is suggesting that,” countered an elderly dwarf woman. “Only that he should flee…across the sea perhaps. To the Dragon Wastes.”

“That would be the same as a death sentence,” snapped Jonas furiously. “Yesterday you thought him to be the savior of your people. But now that Shinzan makes a few threats, you lose heart and want to abandon him. Have you no courage?”

“We will not abandon him,” assured Halvar, breaking his silence. “Of that you can be certain. But we must take Shinzan’s threat seriously. For now, Ethan must make every effort to free Lylinora. Once that is done, King Ganix will gain him passage across the sea to find the dragons. In the meantime I have already paid the smugglers vast amounts of gold and jewels to keep us informed. We should trust in our preparations…and hope that Shinzan is not yet ready to march.”

His words were met with only mild enthusiasm from most. No one relished the idea of sealing the mountain, and Ethan was well aware that the stories of Shinzan’s power and fury had been burned deep into their lore.

Regardless of the mood, Halvar rose and dismissed the council. Ethan remained behind at Ganix’s request, while Jonas lingered pointedly by the door. Ethan could tell that he was anxious to question him privately.

“We’ll talk later,” Ethan told him. “I promise.”

Reluctantly, Jonas nodded and left.

“They are right to worry,” said Ganix, once they were alone. “This move is surprising.”

“Do you think Shinzan expects me to come?” Ethan asked.

“That’s just it,” he replied, “It is a ludicrous offer. Why would you trust him to keep his word? Why would
we
?”

Ethan sank into his chair and sighed. “I don’t know. I mean…I’d go if I thought it would do any good. But if I did, there’s nothing to stop him from just killing me on the spot.”

“Then he’d simply need to wait for the right moment to move against us,” added Ganix. He cocked his head, struck by a sudden thought. “Perhaps he stalls for time.”

“Why would he need to do that?” asked Ethan doubtfully.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But he must surely be aware that we’ve now prepared for his coming. His army is massing, but not moving. He waits and makes overtures of peace that he knows we would see as disingenuous. In fact, everything he has done causes us to delay further action and sends us into a state of confusion.”

He met Ethan’s eyes. “If I needed time…that’s exactly what I would do.”

There was a long silence. Ethan’s mind was racing. He had no head for strategy, and the idea of trying to think in the same way as an all-powerful emperor was far more than he could handle.

“I know this is much to put on someone so young,” Ganix said, clearly noticing Ethan’s distress. “I was the same at your age. It takes time to learn to think as your enemy does.”

Ethan gave him an embarrassed smile. “I know people think I’m something special. But the truth is that I’m just a baker’s son from Brooklyn.”

“Ah. But you were also a soldier.”

“True. But not an officer. All I ever did was follow orders. There were better men who did the planning.”

Ganix placed a hand fondly on Ethan’s shoulder and gazed at him with a fatherly expression. “More experienced perhaps. But not better. You should be proud to have come so far. And I am confident that you will go further still.” He started toward the door. “Come. Enough intrigue for now. We must continue with our efforts to free Lylinora.”

The mention of her name snapped Ethan from his melancholy. Every night he had dreamed of what it would be like once she was free from her prison. Jonas had told him as much as he knew, though he admitted most of it was from the few times he had met her while travelling to her father’s estate on business.

The last time was a year before Shinzan began his campaign to conquer Lumnia. By then, Lylinora was already a talented mage and a well-respected noble – known for her skill at healing. Her father, Lord Killian Jaymonte, had resisted quite a few overtures of marriage from the other houses. He insisted that Lylinora would marry for love, not political advantage. This had angered several prominent members of the Council of Volnar, but Lord Jaymonte didn’t seem to care.

Jonas had also told him that Lylinora’s father and his own had been quite close, and often expressed a wish that their two houses could be joined. Sadly, Ethan was only an infant at the time of their final meeting, making such a union all but impossible. But that was no longer the case.

He followed Ganix to the chamber where Lylinora had been kept for the past five hundred years. Ethan had already moved most of his belongings there, along with a more comfortable cot. Naturally, Kat hated this, and was constantly interrupting his studies. It had gotten to the point where Ethan had requested a guard be placed at the entrance. Not that this helped much. Given Kat’s ability to remain unnoticed, she gained entry regardless. In fact, the presence of the guard only encouraged her to be increasingly spiteful with her practical jokes and tricks. Ethan would scarcely take a bite of food or sip of wine without closely examining it first.

As usual on arriving, a blanket had been thrown over Lylinora’s crystal and his bedding was scattered about the floor.

Ganix chuckled. “I must say that I admire the girl’s resolve. I had thought she would tire of such antics by now.”

Ethan began to tidy up the mess. “Kat’s as stubborn as an army mule. The Krauts wouldn’t have lasted an hour against her.”

“Yes,” remarked Ganix. “The Krauts. They were the enemy you fought against on Earth, am I right?”

“Actually, their proper name is Germans. We just call them Krauts…or Jerry.”

“Why?”

Ethan paused to think for a moment. “You know…I’m not really sure. We just did.”

“We used to call the humans
heimskar
when I was young,” Ganix told him, smirking. “It means stupid.”

Ethan looked at the old king and frowned. “
Kraut
doesn’t mean stupid.”

“No? Well I’m sure that whatever it means, it’s not meant to be flattering.”

Ethan’s hatred for his earthly enemy began to rise. “They’re animals,” he growled.

Ganix held up his hand. “No need to get upset. I know you will have good reason to think that way. But I wonder how you will refer to your new enemy. I’m sure that not every soldier you fought on Earth was evil. No more than all those in Lumnia who serve the Emperor are.”

Ethan pondered his words for a moment. Maybe it wasn’t all one-sided either? He had heard stories of captured Germans being executed. Men begging for their lives as US soldiers – the supposed good guys in the war – laughed and taunted them. He hadn’t thought much of it at the time. The Krauts had been just as ruthless and cruel. Even more so. But Ganix was right. Not all of them would have been evil.

“I should not cloud your mind with this,” Ganix continued. “War is a wicked thing. It can make monsters of us all. Better you stay focused on the task at hand.”

Ethan nodded in agreement. But as he took his place in the center of the chamber, the old king’s words were still eating at him. He had never considered the enemy as anything other than foul and deserving of dea
th. He remembered the look of terror on the face of the Imperial soldier he had killed. Had he a wife? Children? Who missed him now that his life was snuffed out?

He closed his eyes and thought hard. Seven. He had killed seven men. Mostly from so far away that he couldn’t make out their faces. But it didn’t matter. They were dead anyway, and regardless of circumstances, he was the one who had taken their lives. He thought he’d come to terms with it, just as every soldier must. But something in what the king just said had hit home.