Halfstone: A Tale of the Narathlands (23 page)

Aldrick felt feeble… empty. There was nothing left to do now. This
was the end.

There was a roaring. The figures of the two dragons hurtled past
and then came a thunderous crash from below. The floor shuddered and pillars
swayed. They must have struck the foundations of the terrace.

“Dear me,” remarked Malath, looking around. “Perhaps this temple
will be destroyed after all.”

Aldrick looked up at him. “You do know what will happen if it is,
don’t you? That dragon’s kin will be freed and the whole world will burn. You
won’t be divinity for long.”

Malath chuckled. “Did the white one tell you this? He too is
misguided, then. The banishing is a myth, an old wife’s tale—folly rubbish.”

“You’re wrong.”

Malath frowned momentarily, then shook his head. “No, no I am
not.”

Télia appeared at the top of the stairs. The second Aldrick
glanced at her he knew he had made a mistake. Malath noticed his eyes shift and
turned.

“What have we here?” he asked gleefully. He looked back at Aldrick,
then to her again. “Oh, please tell me this is not your woman….” He laughed. “She
is!”

Aldrick panicked. “Télia!”

Malath went for her. She fired an arrow at him, but to no effect.
He brushed it aside before grabbing her by the collar and striking her hard
across the face.

“Malath.” Aldrick forced himself to his feet. “Let her go.”

Malath shook his head. “No. Her, you will witness perish before
you die.”

Aldrick tried to move but found an unyielding warding wall keeping
him at bay. Malath strode to the edge of the terrace and held Télia out over
the chasm. She didn’t struggle. She looked at Aldrick with an expression he
could not read.

“Malath… Malath, don’t,” he pleaded.

Malath’s lip curled. “Oh how it must hurt knowing you can do noth—”

In a flash, Télia drew a hidden dagger and drove it into Malath’s
shoulder. He cried out in pain and let her go. Aldrick watched in horror as she
fell from sight.

“No!” He launched himself forward. The warding wall had crumbled.
He felt his storm surging from the depths of him. He had power and he had purpose.
He drove into Malath with all his might and they both toppled over the edge.

They were falling. Wind beat against them. Below, Télia
disappeared into a murky haze. He had to save her but knew Malath would impede
him.

“Illumir, catch her!” he yelled out, praying the dragon was near
enough to hear him.

Malath let out a merciless laugh. “She is damned.”

Aldrick hurled a spear of lightning at him. He deflected it with a
shield of fire.

They fought as wrathful beasts, slashing and hammering each other
with every element in their control; a battle to honour this gamble of the
fates.

Illumir appeared, descending in a dive with Aashkara on his tail.
For a moment the dragons fought alongside them, locked in an equally ferocious
battle until Illumir broke free and continued down at fierce speed.

“Save her!” Aldrick shouted after him. “Save her!”

Malath dealt a blow that snapped his bones. His sword was lost. He
clasped his ribs, healed, then struck back with talons of lightning and shards
of ice. Malath blocked.

“Nothing will hinder me!” he cried madly.

Aldrick looked back down to see the haze had thinned and a jagged
terrain of scolded stone was rapidly approaching. He held a hand down and tried
to slow his descent with gravity. It was hard to focus. He hit the ground at
great speed. Malath landed lightly nearby. Dazed and aching, Aldrick lifted his
head. Illumir and Aashkara were battling a short distance away from them.
Illumir held Télia in his claws. The dragon had caught her! She was alive! He
made to find his feet but Malath struck him with earth-shattering force and he
hurtled sideways into rock. He collapsed, barely conscious…

He would not give in! Aldrick leapt up and unleashed a blaze upon
Malath, who forged a wall, but the flames pushed through. Malath’s robes caught
alight for an instant before he doused them and retaliated with spears of ice.
One pierced Aldrick’s chest, slicing like glass. He pulled it out and threw it
back. It met Malath’s thigh. He grimaced and dropped to one knee. Aldrick saw
that he was finding it difficult to heal now. His storm was near spent. So was Aldrick’s
own. Blood dripped from his chest wound. He staggered forward. Malath gritted
his teeth and readied for more.

There was a roar. They both looked sideways. Illumir had his jaws
closed around Aashkara’s neck. Her talons were lodged deep in his side. With
vicious ferocity, Illumir tore her neck wide open. Burning blood gushed to the
ground. She grumbled and sputtered then fell sideways, tearing Illumir open as
her final act. The dragon toppled over. As he did, his claws opened and Télia
jumped to safety. She stood and brushed herself off, then looked up.

“Aldrick!” She ran frantically toward him.

Aldrick looked up. Ruins of the terrace were falling straight for
them. Télia launched herself into him and wrapped her body around his. With one
hand he held her and with the other he forged a warding wall above them. Malath
did the same. The rubble crashed down upon them. Its weight was immense. Aldrick
could not withstand it, yet somehow he could. Télia gave him strength. He could
not let her die. She would not!

They were smothered in total darkness. The air was choking. “Hold
on!”

“I will, Aldrick,” she whispered.

From somewhere close, Malath spoke.

“How are you holding up, Aedimon?” he asked. His voice wavered. He
was almost done. It was a test of will now.

“Could… be… better,” Aldrick replied.

“I… cannot. It… how can this be?” Malath winced. “How can you…”
There was a crumbling sound and then silence. He was dead.

Aldrick held on to Télia and let out a roar. The stone suddenly
gave way above them and they ascended, his storm birthing wings beneath them.
Télia lifted her head and looked into his eyes. He looked back, feeling
devastating exhaustion but overwhelming love.

And so their lips met. They rose higher and higher in gentle embrace
and for a time the world around them disappeared.

In the back of his mind, Aldrick heard beating wings. He opened
his eyes. Illumir flew past them.

“Thanks for not checking on me,” the dragon grumbled in jest. “You
are lucky you have your own way back up.”

He was thankful to see the dragon alive.

“See you at the top,” he called, then continued kissing his future
wife.

19

GALDREM

The cool stone floor of Darkna was welcoming. Both ends of the
hall were now levelled. The wilting sun’s light spilt in, turning rubble to a
tender shade of orange. Somewhere, a fantail was chirping happily. Aldrick and
Télia collapsed in each other’s arms upon landing and for a moment just lay
there, taking deep breaths of the still air. The dust had settled.

As Aldrick’s thoughts fell upon the others, they came running.

“Aldrick!” Jon cried. “Aldrick, you are alive.”

He and Télia stood.

“Yes, we’re still here,” he said. “As are you.”

Jon sighed heavily. “Yes. Malath’s followers who remained are no
more. Selayna we fought at length, until finally, well, she just shrieked and
dropped dead. That was when I presumed Malath had fallen.”

Aldrick nodded. “Malath is dead.”

Quite out of character, Kaal came and took Aldrick and Télia in
his arms. He looked to be unharmed.

“Tell me—is it over, Brother?” he asked, not hiding his weariness.

Aldrick closed his eyes. “I think so.”

One of Jon’s elderly friends stepped forward. “That dragon of
yours—is it friend or foe?”

Aldrick looked to where Illumir awaited on the court. “He is
friend to us all. We owe him much.”

“Ignoring where you found him, I am curious as to why he had
quarrel with Aashkara,” said Jon with a furrowed brow. “What were the dragons’
motives to involve themselves in this debacle?”

Aldrick now glanced around the crippled temple. “You will know
soon.”

With Télia’s hand in his, Aldrick made his way through the hall to
Illumir. The others followed nervously. Doubt was dulling his relief. Was this
day truly a victory?

“Hello Aldrick, wielders and humans,” Illumir said, meeting them
with attentive eyes. “You have questions for me?”

“Yes,” Aldrick said, “but first I thank you, Illumir. You saved
Télia’s life.”

“Yes—thank you, Illumir” restated Télia, stepping forward. “I am
indebted to you.”

Illumir looked upon her kindly. “I did only what I could.”

Aldrick surveyed the dragon. “How are you holding up? You were
wounded…”

Illumir snorted. “I am quite well. My opponent may have been large
but, in the end, she could not match my stormpower. She spent hers in fire,
whereas I restored my body to health.”

“What of the Shard’s storm?” asked Jon, gazing upon Illumir in
wonder. “Do you possess it now?”

“I do. Its power is reserved in me until the day when I must
contest with a greater evil.”

“Illumir, is that greater evil still at bay?” Aldrick asked nervously.

Illumir surveyed the crippled temple and grumbled. “The seal yet
holds, but it has been weakened. Much of the king’s storm has left these walls.
We must hope he will respond accordingly.”

Aldrick’s head dropped. So, it was both good news and bad.

Télia stroked his arm.

“Cheer up, gloomy,” she said. “This day is a victory.”

He managed a grin and leaned in to kiss her.

Kaal groaned and looked away. “Come on, you two. There is a time
and a place for that kind of thing.”

Jon was scratching his beard. “Can this really be? The Banishing…”

“Indeed, wielder,” said Illumir. “It has been a well-veiled truth
for ages among your folk.”

“Devéna, tell me you knew nothing of this,” Jon said, turning to
her.

She shook her head. “Honestly, I did not. It would seem that even
the highest of the Synod were ignorant of this truth. I assume no one was ever
meant to know.”

“Correct,” affirmed Illumir. “A day such as this may long since
have passed, had it been discovered.” The dragon looked over each one of them.
“You are humble creatures, the lot of you,” he said. “Always astonished by what
you do not know.” He turned and gazed out toward the distant eastern ocean.
“There are things I could tell you that would cause the very fabric of your
reality to unravel around you. You might find that some things are best left
unknown. After all, to wonder can be a greater thing than to know, can it not?”

There was a lengthy silence. Internally, they contemplated much.
The day was indeed a victory, Aldrick decided. Télia was in his arms. His
mother and father were avenged and the peoples of the land were safe from harm,
at least for the time being.

Eventually Jon suggested they all return to Galdrem. Aldrick had looked
upon the city from Illumir’s back and could see it in the distance now. He was
eager to walk within its walls.

Before they left, he went to Illumir’s side.

“What will you do now?” he asked.

Illumir surveyed him a moment. “I am undecided, young Aldrick. It
has been some time since I last left my hollow. In truth, I find your company
agreeable…”

“Well, you are welcome to stay with us for as long as you wish,” Aldrick
said gladly. “We really must thank you for all this somehow.”

The dragon chuckled. “Have a feast in my name, Aldrick.” He
outstretched his wings. “Do you wish for me to fly you to the gate of the city?
Darkness will soon fall.”

Aldrick shook his head. “No thanks. A walk in fresh air will do me
some good.” In truth, he just wanted more time to hold Télia’s hand.

“Very well. We shall see each other tomorrow then. I seek not to
panic the inhabitants of Galdrem tonight.” Illumir launched into the air and
flew silently away toward the mountains.

“Good evening, Illumir!” Télia called out after him.

For a while they watched the majestic dragon go, then turned and
began to walk down the steps of the temple together, hand in hand.

They met Sinin at the gate of Galdrem. He was with his wife and
child, overseeing the last of the citizens’ safe return home after fleeing
earlier in the day. He was overwhelmed at the sight of them and welcomed them
with long and hearty embraces. There were tears of joy in his weary eyes. His
family and home might well have been lost to him this day, had fate not shown
kindness. Such kindness had not been shown to all, though. Amidst celebration,
they found sadness and dismay within the city walls. Scores of the city guard
and young scholars of Delthendra had been lost. The highly respected Synod—that
which Devéna and Frade belonged to—was all but decimated. Malath had wounded
the city deeply and much time would be needed for healing.

Jon was quickly whisked away with Devéna and Frade to an urgent
council meeting to discuss the events at Darkna and the revelation that the fabled
Banishing was a very real historical event. Aldrick, Télia and Kaal remained
with Sinin and his family. After a generous meal in their humble home, Sinin
left with Kaal to unwind at a local tavern which had been opened for the night.
In turn, Aldrick and Télia bid Leanne and young Flynn a goodnight and walked to
the aera’s residence in the northwest of the city. It was quiet inside—exactly
what they wanted.

Télia showed Aldrick to a small room in which she had slept during
her training. They collapsed on her bed and, for a long time, just lay in each
other’s arms. There were so many things to be thinking and reflecting upon, but
right now all they cared for was each other. They had earned this time.

Sometime in the early morning, Télia led him to the bathhouse,
where they washed away layers of dust and sweat from their bodies. She was
careful to have a curtain drawn between them, because she was shy, he assumed. This
proved not to be so, as when he returned to her room, he found her unclothed in
bed with but a sheet covering her thighs. He tried not to stare. Her beauty was
inexpressible. Her long locks fell in damp flurries around her. Her emerald
eyes gazed straight into his soul.

“Come here,” she said quietly.

He dropped everything and went to her. They began to kiss—gentle
pecks. For each one he would have traversed a desert, had he been requested,
but here they were wilfully surrendering themselves to each other. Little by
little, their kisses became firmer and fiercer as their passion soared. Finally
all restraint was lost…