Sentari: ICE (13 page)

Damon and Gaia ran to the back of the boat, but all they could do was watch on helplessly, as their daughter was dragged away. The shoreline quickly disappeared from view and so did their little girl.

Gaia dropped to the deck and sobbed uncontrollably. Her heart was breaking. Damon kneeled down at her side and put his arm around her. For the first time in his life, he had no answers for her, no words of wisdom to ease her mind. That would be the last time they would ever see their little girl.

“Sometimes when you win, you still lose.”

Loyalty

In a dark room, Antastus lay sleeping. The room was freezing cold, made of nothing but ice, save for the stone disc that sat in the middle and a steel pole that rose from its centre.

Antastus slept, wrapped around the pole. His face was covered with icy droplets. When he snored, cold blasts of air blew out of his nose. The room was barely big enough for the giant creature to fit in. The entrance was an ice archway, three feet thick. The ice was clear and, beneath it was a stone wall covered with hieroglyphic markings.

Just above one of Antastus’s eyes was a small flake of ice, so small that it was barely visible. The tiniest waft of warm air came from the pole in the centre of the disc. The air passed over Antastus’s nose and blew over the flake of ice. The ice slowly melted and formed a small droplet of water. The water ran down the top of Antastus’s eye and then dripped from his eyelid to the floor with the tiniest of splashes. As it did, Antastus opened his huge eye and stared at the droplet, his cold gaze fixed upon the small wet spot. A moment later, he leapt from the floor and flew out of the stone archway in such a hurry that he shattered the ice surrounding it.

Antastus burst out into the light. The small room he was in gave way to towering high mountains, shrouded in thick clouds. The tops of the mountains had large rooms carved into their sheer peaks. Glass-like in appearance, each room was contoured to match the shape of the peak. From a distance it would appear as nothing, but up close it was a sight to behold. The light shimmering in each direction, small, glass tunnels linked the peaks together. The magnificent place was unreachable by man. The peaks were simply too steep and its location too remote. Its builders long since gone, it now served Antastus well as his home.

Antastus flapped his giant wings and glided over the intricate maze of glass tunnels. He flew beneath the cloud line and across the tops of the lower mountains. His powerful eyes could see far into the distance. He glided effortlessly through the air and covered great expanses in very little time. For every flap of his wings he could travel the same area it would take a man an entire day to walk.

As he flew, his eyes were closed, but his mind was very active. In between two of the mountains lay a small, round lake, which had been frozen for many hundreds of years. Antastus stretched out his wings and slowed down. He gracefully descended and landed with a shattering thud in the middle of the lake.

He bowed his head and chanted. His voice was so deep that the words could not be distinguished. The wind around him swirled and swirled as his giant nostrils sucked in the air. He raised his head and breathed out. He blasted out freezing cold air in all directions, generating a mighty gale. The noise was so loud that it echoed throughout the valley below, then suddenly he stopped.

A giant wall of ice now stood around him. Eight feet wide, it formed a perfect circle around the lake.

From out of nowhere, five dragons appeared in the sky. They circled around the lake, then dove down as one and landed on the lake ice. Each dragon was spread out perfectly around Antastus. This was a meeting of the dragons. A very rare occasion, it had not happened for nearly four hundred years.

The dragons’ souls were forever linked together and the closer they were the stronger the link became, so much so that they stood motionless for a very long time, soaking up the power that ran through their icy veins.

Although the dragons’ hearts had long since frozen over, they still respected the formalities of the old ways and this was a very formal occasion. They had known each other for nearly a millennium, but protocol dictated that they must introduce themselves.

“I am Elrich, ruler of the north,” said Elrich, as he stretched his wings out wide and roared so loudly that the lake ice shuddered. Next to Antastus, Elrich was the cruellest of the dragons. He ruled his lands with an iron fist. He took no pity on the people or the lands. The north was scarcely populated and the lands had been ravaged.

“I am Lars, ruler of the east,” said Lars, as he stretched and bowed to the other dragons. Lars was by far the weakest of the dragons, but what he lacked in raw power he made up for in cunning. His people thrived in comparison to Elrich’s. Lars knew that he could use his people to protect his place.

“I am Denius, keeper of the west,” said Denius, as he bowed his head. Denius was the most powerful of the dragons, though his power was slightly tempered by his age. Once Antastus’s master, he now watched his pupil from afar, his heart was icy cold and given the right incentive, he could rip apart the lands in a heartbeat.

“I am Exceil, ruler of the south,” said Exceil, as he raised his wings. Exceil ruled the south in title only. He had been stripped of most of his powers long ago by Antastus, in the great war of the dragons. He merely served as a symbol to keep the south under control. That was why the Sigamante had been able to stay safe for so long.

“I am Andes, lord of the seas,” said Andes. The youngest of all the dragons, Andes spent most of his time living in the ruins of the Intari cities below the ocean. He rarely surfaced. It was unknown what he did with his time, but he was an extremely intelligent dragon and his heart had not been corrupted as much as the others’.

There was a gap in the circle between Andes and Elrich. That was where Drake once stood. The last of the free dragons, Drake now lived in hiding. He still had great power but was forced to conceal his presence from the other dragons. He was very much aware of them.

Antastus raised his wings high, causing the wind to spin around him like a hurricane. “I am Antastus, lord of all,” he said, as the wind grew stronger and stronger and shattered the wall of ice surrounding the dragons.

The wind settled and Antastus lowered his wings. “There is a change in the air, my kin. I sense a coming warmth that I have not felt for many years. This warm air is coming from the east,” said Antastus.

Lars was frozen with fear as Antastus stared at him. “I have sensed hope in my lands for some time now,” said Lars nervously.

“And yet, this is the first I am hearing of it?” questioned Antastus.

“It is nothing I cannot handle,” replied Lars, a little unconvincingly.

“You rule your lands far too softly, Lars. The jungles team with life. Tell me, when was the last time the snow fell on Yen-Gyle?” asked Antastus. Lars did not reply to Antastus for fear of aggravating him further. Antastus knew that his rule over the dragons was built on fear and, if they saw any weakness coming from him, they would begin to question his supremacy. “I blame myself,” said Antastus. “I have left you to your own devices for far too long,” he continued, as he walked towards Lars, then circled around him. Lars quivered as Antastus’s cold breath blew down his neck. “How can you stand that warm air flowing through your lands? I can only assume that you have become accustomed to it,” said Antastus.

“What are you saying?” asked Lars.

“I think it’s time you all proved your loyalty,” said Antastus. He walked over to the cliff side at the edge of the lake. He opened his mouth and began to blow out a steady stream of ice. The ice clung to the mountainside, then protruded from the mountain. A small, smooth cylinder grew out from the mountainside. Faster and faster, the ice grew, until it connected with a mountain on the other side. “Now, all of you, walk! If you cross, you will have proved your loyalty,” said Antastus.

Elrich was the first to walk across. His heart was as cold as Antastus’s and, as he walked, he breathed out ice in all directions, creating a wide platform for him to comfortably walk across. When he reached the other side, he let out a deafening screech, smashing the ice that he had just created.

Denius followed Elrich and easily traversed the bridge. Andes and Exceil followed, but were forced to use their wings to balance themselves as their grasp of the elements was not quite as strong as the others’.

That only left Lars to cross the bridge. Antastus stepped very close to him and looked him deep in the eyes. Suddenly, Lars’s wings opened and stretched out fully. Lars struggled to pull his wings in, but Antastus was using his power to keep them open. Antastus opened his huge mouth. His razor-sharp teeth gleamed in the light. His eyes slowly froze over with ice and, then, he viciously bit down on Lars’s wing. Lars bellowed with agony as cold, blue blood poured from his veins. Antastus ripped and tore at Lars. The other dragons looked on unmoved. Antastus pulled back with one last bite and ripped Lars’s wing straight out of its socket. Lars dropped to the ground in pain. Antastus spat his wing out of his mouth and stood over Lars, with blood dripping from his mouth. Antastus shoved Lars towards the bridge. “You will either show your loyalty or fall to your death. Don’t disappoint me,” he said.

Lars stepped up to the bridge. The blood continued to pour from his wing. He could barely walk with the pain and only having one wing threw his balance completely off. He stepped onto the slippery ice, pulling his remaining wing in close, and slowly walked. Antastus leapt into the air and circled above him, watching intently.

Lars closed his eyes and tried to summon as much power as he could. Ice started to form at the sides of the bridge, but fell away as quickly as Lars could make it. He simply did not have the power to maintain the bridge. Lars fumbled his way along as slowly as he possibly could.

Frustration grew as Antastus waited for Lars. He flew high into the air, so high that he could barely be seen. Then, he turned around and came hurtling down towards the earth at an amazing speed. He flew straight through the bridge, in front of Lars, smashing it into a million pieces. Antastus glided up onto on the mountainside, lowered his huge wings and waited.

Lars concentrated with all his mind and focused on the bridge in front of him. Ice poured out of his nostrils and down towards the edge of the bridge. The bridge slowly grew and became stronger and stronger. Lars stepped forward gently. The bridge was holding, but only barely. Antastus looked on curiously. Although he would accept nothing less than total loyalty, somewhere inside his icy heart he wanted to see Lars succeed.

Lars reached the halfway point of the bridge, but the icy stream emanating from his nostrils spluttered. The ice that was coming out was melting before it got to the bridge, which, in turn, was making the bridge very slippery.

Lars struggled to cross the bridge. Still some distance from the other side, Lars knelt down and clung on to his fast-melting bridge for dear life. Antastus looked on, resigned to Lars’s fate. Antastus turned to the other dragons. “This is the result of complacency,” he said.

Antastus jumped into the air and flew out in front of Lars. Lars looked back at Antastus, terrified. He pleaded for his life, but Antastus showed no remorse. Antastus flew over Lars and slammed down on the other side of the bridge. The bridge creaked and shook. Large chunks of ice broke away before, finally, giving way entirely. Antastus flapped his wings and watched from above as the bridge with Lars upon it disappeared into the depths below.

An explosion of light came from the canyon floor, lighting up the entire sky and blinding the dragons. The energy released flowed through the dragons’ veins like a river. The power was intoxicating. It left the dragons stunned. It was a feeling they had never experienced before. The light faded and, although the energy slowly left their bodies, the experience had changed them. They did not speak of it, but they all felt different.

Antastus quickly moved on. “Lars was a mighty dragon, but we are only as strong as our weakest link,” he said. “We must stay strong if we are to rule unconditionally.”

The dragons all stood silent. They were already afraid of Antastus, but none of them knew the strength of his resolve. Even Denius, the one dragon that could possibly challenge Antastus, stood silent in admiration of his powerful leader.

“There is but one thing now that can stand in our way. We’ve put it off for far too long. We must find Drake,” said Antastus.

“We have not sensed his presence for centuries, nor have we hunted. How do you suppose we find him?” asked Elrich.

Antastus leapt into the air and flew off into the distance. They looked at each other confused, fearing that they had somehow offended Antastus.

A small object way up in the sky whistled through the air. The dragons looked up with curiosity. It grew larger in the sky as it fell. It was a large block of ice, and it was coming down at an incredible speed. The block slammed into the ground in front of the dragons and shattered. At the centre of the ice was Xerxes, unconscious. Antastus quickly landed at his side.

“Who is this? What is this man doing here?” snapped Denius, with disgust in his voice.

“This is nobody, but his grandson is very important. He will lead us to Drake,” replied Antastus.

“How do you know that?” said Denius.

“Because I have seen the boy before, a very long time ago,” said Antastus. “This man has foolishly sent his grandson on a quest to find Drake. I need you, Denius, to follow them and, when you find Drake, I want you to bring me his head,” said Antastus.

“As you wish,” said Denius.

“It will not be long until Drake is no more and we can once again rule the world unchallenged,” said Antastus.

“The more you try to hold onto something the quicker it slips through your fingers.”