Vegenrage: Dragon Reclaim (12 page)

“So all this time you and Vergraughtu had been using the books written by Hornspire to produce the future you had wanted. I should kill you right now, but I never read the books in the first place.”

“Yes, Dribrillianth, Vergraughtu and I had changed some of the writings of Hornspire and made sure the books made their way to the races of man, setting them up for the Dragon Feast. My intention was to know where the races of man were and leave them expecting situations that would not happen. My intent was always to ensure the dragons a bountiful feast and leave the magic-using races of man out in the open. They have become too strong, and we need to keep them in check. Vergraughtu, as you all can see, has other things in mind. Things that not even I was aware of. I never believed in a superior dragon to us, but Vergraughtu took it to be himself and inserted himself as Vemenomous in the writings of Hornspire. Vergraughtu devised this whole setting and conjured the magic, allowing himself to rise from the human savant and capturing the magical abilities of Vlianth. Hornspire had only written that there would be a human named Vlianth, and he has the power to use magic without spoken word, but Hornspire never expanded on that. Vergraughtu did and set up this whole situation with him becoming Vemenomous, and now we must face him and kill him, or as he said, he will kill and eat each of us.”

“So I am curious. Did Hornspire write about a superior dragon? I mean is there some other form of superior dragons we should be aware of?”

“No, Hornspire used the word “superior dragon” in his writing, but he used the word “dominant dragon” much more, and he simply meant that Vlianth was a human magic user powerful enough to defeat the dominant dragon, and he wrote that Vlianth would defeat the dominant dragon, and that is me.”

Pryenthious, Kertinkpice, and Bailseize finally appear, and they get caught up on all the events that have just happened. Pryenthious makes an observation that has gone unspoken of until he brings up something that they have not talked about. “So if Vemenomous killed Beteese and ate him, why did we not feel the loss of one of our own? I know Beteese was still a very young dragon, but we still should have felt his passing. I did not feel it. Did any of you feel his passing?” This is very odd, and they have no explanation for this.

“It was the passing of Gisewear that brought Dribrillianth and myself here to Fargloin. It had to be Cormygle that killed Gisewear, and it is possible that Cormygle is the dominant dragon that Hornspire had written about, but as of now he is not. I think we stay on our plan to eliminate the magic-using races of man as we have planned to do. By tomorrow’s end, we unite and face off with Cormygle and Vemenomous.” The dragons talk and plan to follow through with their united strike on the three worlds in the morning. They all take to flight in their respective world and get ready for their role in tomorrow’s feast. The only difference now is that for the first time ever, the dragons have had the taste of fear, real fear, and they all travel, ready for the Dragon Feast in the morning, looking over their backs.

CHAPTER 10
The Lair of Vergraughtu

Logantrance, Oriapow, Kearsebe, Cellertrill, and the six dwarves have just arrived on Fargloin. Again, the timing of their arrival is very good. Gisewear arrived on the Dry Flats of Hilternor just a few hours ago, about two hundred miles to the north, and he has set off to go retrieve Cormygle, and the other dragons have gone to summon the lesser dragons. Oriapow has lead Logantrance and the party to the Hiltorian remains. Hilternor was a vast wilderness, about two thousand years ago, and the land was slowly rising, pushing the trees up and thinning the topsoil. There were humans that lived here and flourished in the forests. The elves kept to Erkensharie, and the humans kept to Hilternor. Unfortunately for the humans, their forest was dying and fading away. This left them more and more in the open and very susceptible to the dragons and lesser dragons that at this time roamed more freely. The humans were easy targets and the favorite prey of all the large predators. The humans were slowly shrinking in numbers. They had one last stronghold, the human city of Hiltor. The forests had receded, and Hiltor was their last home before all had been lost. The Hiltorian people had come to the point of begging the Erkensharie elves for refuge in Erkensharie, but the elves denied them. The elves did provide the humans with great weapons for that time, but no magic was ever taught or passed on to the humans, and as the forest fell, so did Hiltor and all its people. The land continued to rise and has become a dry, arid place. The city crumbled and decayed, leaving just the shell of its great structures that today have all been eroded to petrified memories with no humans left to remember, only the elves and dragons that watched as the humans fell from the world of Fargloin. This was the favorite hunting land of Vergraughtu. The humans were easy prey, and he grew fat from their flesh. The humans that lived here were not at all gifted in magic or, honestly, intellect, but they were great craftsman, molding and shaping the wood of Hiltor into beautiful statues, homes, and the one city of Hiltor. The Hygegrin tree was unique and grew only in Hilternor. It was a very dense wood, and only the strongest and sharpest of metals could carve and shape it. Only the sturdiest of sanding materials could smoothen its rough surface. The carvings and creations the Hiltorian people made were beautiful, and this is all they had to offer the elves in the way of trade—beautiful statues and figurines and even weapons like spears and bow and arrows that were the best of wooden weapons anywhere. The elves and humans were not enemies and had good relations, but the elves always thought the humans inferior and rarely offered communication with the humans; however, they never refused communication with the humans who constantly tried to befriend the elves. The humans offered the most beautiful of their wooden creations to the elves as gifts, trying to have a closer relationship with them. The elves took notice of the remarkable objects the humans had crafted out of the Hygegrin wood, and this is something they liked and traded very valuable metal weapons for. There was one very special staff that the Hiltorian people had crafted and made—one staff that was so beautiful so life like, that the king of Erkensharie requested the presence of the craftsman who made it. Persen, the human craftsman, was presented to King Ellith, the then king of Erkensharie. Ellith invited Persen to a royal dinner with the elves, and there, they had talked about the staff. The humans did not know magic, but Persen was on the path to understanding and possibly using magic. Ellith asked Persen what had inspired him to make the staff, and how did he make it look so real. Persen answered by telling the king about the ever more frequent raids on his people by a violet dragon that had eaten all his family but him. This dragon was dubbed the Violet Violator. Persen had made the staff in its image and believed that someday, somehow, the staff could be used to harness the power of the dragon and be used to thwart all other dragons and even kill them. Persen even practiced fighting moves with the staff a lot. He knew magic existed and did all he could to harness magic and power the staff but never had any results. He offered the staff to his king and asked that the staff be given to the elves in the hope that maybe, someway, the magic-using elves could use the staff to better effect than Persen could. The staff was presented to the elves, and the elves invited the craftsmen of this magnificent staff to a royal dinner with them. Persen also asked King Ellith many times that the elves help the humans to fight the dragon, and Ellith had told Persen that the dragon also had been raiding and eating the elves as well. The elves were doing all they could to fight against the dragon. Ellith thanked Persen for the staff and told him he was going to use this staff in the fight against the dragon and that the humans had to protect themselves just as the elves had to protect themselves. He then told Persen that the staff he had made was very special and even had magical qualities about it that could help in the fight against the Violet Violator. Ellith liked this nickname, the Violet Violator, and adopted it. Ellith invited Persen to go with him to the Mystical Erkens to meet with the magic-using elves. Persen excitedly accepted. Aside from Logantrance, Persen is the only human at this time to ever be invited to visit the Mystical Erkens. Once there, Persen was introduced to Shandorn, Tunull, and Whenshade. They were astonished to see this human is the one who had created this mystical staff. They explained to Persen that the staff was indeed magical and could be used against Vergraughtu. The magic users also adopted the name the Violet Violator. They explained to Persen that the staff makes its creator immune to the breath attack of the dragon and can inflict wounds to the dragon that cannot be healed. This power is granted to the creator of the staff only so the elves would be powerless with it. The interesting thing is that Persen is not gifted in magic, and he has not named the staff. He would have to name the staff in order to unlock its power. He would have to then carve its name and the words spoken on the staff to grant these abilities. The elves are just as excited at this point as is Persen. Persen is becoming the first human on Fargloin to use magic, and the elves are here to witness it. Shandorn explains to Persen that he has to use the same tools he used to make the staff to carve the wording into it, and then when he speaks the words, it will come alive until then this is a very special staff but powerless. Persen thanked the elves for all their insight and said he would get to work on it right away and asks if he may return to the elves when he had finished to seek further guidance from them. They agreed, and Persen went back to his homeland. He returned in one week, and the elves were stunned yet again to what Persen has done with the staff. Back in the Mystical Erkens, Persen explained how he had visions while working on the staff, visions of modifying the staff, and he followed his instincts. He hollowed out the staff and infused black coral into it—a technique that only Persen knew how to do and has not been duplicated to this day. The king of Hilternor granted for all the gold in Hilternor to be used, and it is the inlay spiraling up the staff under the words etched in the Imblogblem language spoken by his people. When back in the Mystical Erkens, Shandorn asked if he may hold the staff, and Persen granted him this request. Shandorn visibly was inspired when he held and looked the staff over. It is beautiful. Persen has lacquered the wood in black. He had corked it with black coral, giving the staff good weight, and etched the words in the Imblogblem language, making this the only magical item of its kind and the only human-made magical item on Fargloin. Shandorn explained how corking the staff with coral has the power to capture the life force of the dragon whose image it was made from. With the k
ing of Hiltor allowing all the gold of all the people to be used and inlaid in this staff, it has the combined strength of a whole nation. In the hands of its creator, it is truly remarkable. With this staff, Persen can face the Violet Violator. Persen can consume his breath attack with this staff and can inflict mortal wounds to the dragon. Shandorn handed the staff back to Persen. In their discussion, Persen told the elves how he named the staff after the dragon that killed his family, and he didn’t know the name of the dragon until the elves had told him. The elves dubbed the Staff of Barrier Breath because with it, Persen is immune to all the dragons’ breath attacks. Persen has revenge in his heart and wants to take on the dragon at once. He asked the elves to help him defeat the dragon, but the elves hid behind the fact that only Persen could wield the staff, and it is too dangerous for the elves to go with him. There is one elf who stands forth, one elf who had the courage to go with Persen—a young, very confident, and very adventurous elf that came to Persen, ready to fight the dragon with him. This elf was and is Oriapow, and Oriapow united with the craftsman of the Staff of Barrier Breath, the first human that can and will use magic on Fargloin. Shandorn and the other elves respect the courage of Oriapow and gave him powerful magical items to take on his quest. The elves wished this unlikely partnering all the best and sent them off with blessings.

Oriapow was and still is extremely adventurous and fearless. He has ventured out of Erkensharie a lot on his own to explore the world of Fargloin. In fact, the elven magical order could never tame Oriapow’s adventurous nature. He was always extremely well gifted in the art of magic, and even when the elves told Oriapow to stay put, he found a way to sneak off and explore. He has followed Vergraughtu and been able to remain undetected by the dragon. He has never ventured into the lair of the dragon, but he knows where it is, and he tells Persen that together, they will slay the dragon and unite the elf and human races to fight against the dragons that dare to feed on the races of man. The two spend a week together in the wild, making their way to The Cliffs of Smildren half a world away from Erkensharie and to the south of Bankle Lake. Oriapow uses his teleportation magic to move them great distances at a time but stops at many of his favorite places to share them with Persen and help him learn the art of magic. On the Smildren Sea, there are miles and miles of great cliff walls known as The Cliffs of Smildren, and Oriapow had followed Vergraughtu here many times. He led Persen to the cliffs and showed him the entrance to the lair of Vergraughtu. He told Persen that this is as close as he ever dared to venture, but he will go in with Persen by his side. Persen is ready to go, and the fear of losing his life is not at all a concern of his. If he is to die, then so be it. His only concern is avenging his family. Oriapow is just a plain adventure seeker who is admittedly scared but courageous enough to venture on with Persen, and they climb up the cliffs to the entrance of Vergraughtu’s lair. Once they reached the entrance and could stand, they motivated each other and ventured into the lair. This is not a tunnel that was dug out by Vergraughtu but a natural cave, very big, and it slants downward, but they could still walk down the entrance way fairly easily. They got to the main cavern that was well lit because the entrance is so wide it allows plenty of light to filter in. Vergraughtu was lying on his large bed of gold and looking at the elf and human as they walked in.

Logantrance, Kearsebe, Cellertrill, and the six dwarves are all listening to Oriapow’s story with great interest.

“Now I will take you all to the shores of the Smildren Sea where Persen and I first observed Vergraughtu’s lair together.”

Glimtron holds his hands up looking at Oriapow and you would swear you could see a question mark on his face. “Wait, Oriapow, don’t leave us hanging like this. What happened? What happened to you and Persen in the lair of Vergraughtu?”

Rifter adds, “Yes, Oriapow, you started this. Now finish the story.”

“Okay, guys. I will tell you what happened, but you won’t believe it.”

Silgeqwee says to Oriapow, “Just go on and tell us what happened.”

Oriapow and Persen walked into the lair of Vergraughtu, and Vergraughtu watched them walk in. They knew Vergraughtu saw them and kept walking as close to the dragon as they dared. Persen held the staff high, leading the way with it. He felt that it would protect him, and he and Oriapow put their lives on the line believing this. Vergraughtu raised his head but did not say a word. They walked closer yet to the dragon, and finally, Vergraughtu spoke, and they couldn’t believe what he said.

“Persen, you are the bearer of … I believe you have named it after me, Vergraughtu. How nice of you and Oriapow, the magical elf, to aid the human who is to tame the Violet Violator. You two have come to kill me, but I have a better idea for you. To make the two of you heroes in your lands.”

Oriapow and Persen look at each other. Persen is ready to test the staff and charges the dragon, running up the bed of gold and slashing at its front left leg as it stands to avoid the human. It cuts a deep wound in Vergraughtu’s leg, and he roars in pain. Oriapow shoots lightning bolts at the dragon, and he deflects them with his wings, and they shoot into the walls, exploding and setting a massively large book on fire.

“No, not the book. Not the book.”

Vergraughtu rushes to a five-foot tall book that has caught fire and breathes freezing air from his mouth and puts out the flames. He grasps the book and hugs it in his chest like it is a newborn and protects it, backing into the back wall of the cave. Persen charged Vegraughtu with his staff, and Oriapow saw the most incredible sight ever. Vergraughtu raised his head, and Persen raised the staff over his head and said, “I summon Vergraughtu consume all dragon breath.” Vergraughtu breathed his Breath of Venom, and the head on the staff that Persen was holding came to life, and the entire breath attack of Vergraughtu was consumed by the staff.

“This was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. The pure power and destruction that Vergraughtu had breathed on Persen and all the attack funneled right into the mouth of the staff. I can’t even explain how magnificent this was. You have to just imagine what it looked like and then imagine it was more powerful than you could even imagine. The staff grew gold in color and took on the form of Vergraughtu. It looked exactly like a miniature Vergraughtu, but amazingly, it was still a three-foot staff, only now gold in color. It was the most incredible sight I had ever seen. Vergraughtu was stunned and could not believe what had just happened. The second most unbelievable thing I have ever seen happened next. Vergraughtu bowed his head to the ground in front of Persen and said, ‘Master.’ He offered the book in his paws to Persen and told him that with the bag hanging on the wall, he could hold the book and any other item he wished could be carried in this bag as well with no added weight, and he could retrieve any object from the bag at any time. He offered Persen all of his treasure and said it was his for himself or his people, and the bag would carry it all for him. With this treasure, his people would now be the richest on the planet. Persen, obviously confused, held his ground with the staff only ten feet from the dragon’s head that still lay on the ground in front of him. Instead of attacking, Persen’s curiosity got the best of him, and he asked the dragon why he stops his attack and bows to a human. Vergraughtu responded by laying the book in front of Persen and telling him that it was prophecy. It was already written that a human bearing the magical staff that the dragon could not combat would come and steal the essence of the dragon, making the staff and the human the most powerful duo on the planet of Fargloin. It was written that if the dragon did not submit to the human and offer his life essence to the staff, the human would destroy the dragon. If the dragon bows to the human and the human named Persen read the magical words from the book, the life force of the dragon would forever power the Staff of Barrier Breath, and its master, Persen, shall be immune to all dragon breath attacks, and through the constant use of the staff, he shall forever grow stronger and more powerful. Persen kept the staff facing the dragon who still lay facedown on the ground. Persen took the bag and tied the golden rope around his waist and tested what the dragon had told him by putting some of the treasure in it, and sure enough, the dragon was right. Persen opened the book on the ground, and it was so big that he could easily see the writing on the pages that it opened up to.”