When Dragons Die

Prologue

Sart turned in bed and watched Selene standing in the window. The moonlight was cascading over her bare skin, and she had taken on the familiar silver glow that he loved. A cool evening breeze filtered through the open window, lightly caressing her body and giving her hair a carefree, windswept look. The sounds of the ocean surf could be heard far below, gently lapping the shoreline.

Thank you so much for the moon, darling, she said, looking out the window at the full moon in the sky. It is more wonderful than I ever thought possible, having it over me every day.

I know. You’ve thanked me every day for years. The thanks are unnecessary though, I did it to make you happy. That is thanks enough for me.

No matter, I will keep thanking you every day until I take my last breath. Because aside from having you beside me, there is nothing that can compare to this gift.

Sart smiled at her and Selene returned to the bed and lay on the covers next to him, resting her hand on his stomach as he turned his gaze from her face to the ceiling. He was now staring at the picture of the moon goddess that was there. The ancient room from underneath the mountain where they had found out about the artifacts, and the power they contained, had been taken down and reassembled piece by piece on the top of the tower they had constructed in the city as their personal dwelling. The most important piece was the picture of the goddess. She had been carefully transported to the tower and was placed exactly the way she looked when they first saw her in the ancient room under the mountain—sitting on a crescent moon, holding a star in her hands, and winking at the person who was looking at the painting.

She looks so much like you, Sart whispered as his hand found hers.

It is said that the elves are children of the moon goddess, so we all have features of hers, some of us more than others.

Where do you think she is now? Does anyone still worship her?

There were a few old timers who did, long ago when I was growing up in the forest. But most of the elves had moved on to other gods, claiming she had abandoned them.

What about you, do you believe in her?

I hadn’t thought about it much before I met you, believing it to be superstitious rubbish. After what we encountered in the chamber under the mountain, though, the scroll, the prophecy, the poor creature left to guard it? Yes, I do believe in her. The existence of the artifacts proves she is real. I think she is just waiting for the elves to come back to her, and then she will reveal herself. They won’t come back to her, though. I know that. Maybe once they are exterminated she will come back and start over. Why all the questions about her now? Should I be jealous of my goddess? she asked, flashing her impish smile.

I’m just wondering if she would be upset with me keeping the moon permanently over us.

If she has issues with it, I’m sure she’d let you know. Besides, it gets more admiration here than it did anywhere else. It should be where it is appreciated. Speaking of which, maybe I should show you how much I appreciate you, she said, moving over to kiss Sart.

Damn it, not now. They have the worst possible timing, he groaned.

I feel it too, Selene said, another ship has entered the enchanted fog, violating our territorial waters yet again.

Can you get a feel for them? What is the magic telling you? Sart asked.

Same captain as before, different mage though, a mediocre one at best. How do you want to handle this one? Want to make it quick and easy like the others so we can get back down to business?

Actually, I’m tired of doing quick and easy. I know we can get back to bed sooner, but they keep coming back with the same asinine request that we surrender. It’s like clockwork. They have their ships prowling the ocean around our land year round, looking for a way in, and then send one into our bay to demand surrender. Sart felt his eyes start glowing as his rage flared inside.

Well, my love, how would you like to welcome them to our territory? A dramatic display of our power? Maybe a date with Nemesis, she’s been lonely lately.

No, I have an idea though.

Sart got out of bed and walked over to the window, peering out into the twilight covering the bay. At last he saw it, a tiny dot of light bobbing in the still ocean waters. He raised his hands and started an incantation, his voice taking on a hollow magical tone. He felt the electric tingling in his hands as he let the magic build. He pointed at the light in the inky void and released his magic. He watched the light lurch violently upwards on a torrent of water, swirling in circles before being roughly deposited on the beach outside the town gates.

Sart pulled a rope, and an orc soldier could be heard quickly coming up the steps and knocking three times before opening the door. The soldier kept his head down and eyes on the floor as he had been instructed to do whenever he went to the King and Queen’s chamber.

Thank you for coming so quickly.

Yes, your majesty. Is there something you need?

Yes, please send General Goretusk up here right away to speak with me. We have visitors, and I want to make sure we are good hosts until their ship can be freed from the horrible sandbar it seems to be stuck in.

Right away sir, the soldier said, exiting.

Selene smiled viciously, I haven’t played host in quite a while. I do hope we can please them with our accommodations.

I’m sure they’ll have the time of their lives, Sart said.

Chapter One

Kit leaned over the railing of the ship and heaved again—it was going to be a long day. He turned to Captain Smyth. Why are we doing this again? he asked in a sick voice that matched his green face.

You know very well why we are doing this, Captain Smyth said, not taking his hands off the wheel. If you want to advance to top rank in the mage’s guild, you have to protect a ship on a scouting trip to the Eastern Continent.

Captain Smyth was an older man with a scruffy white beard and a weathered, sunburned face. He was the most successful of the captains that went on the scouting trips, having done it five times before. Some captains refused to do it more than once, and some never came back at all. Whatever his secret was of getting in and out alive he kept to himself, and was honored with bigger and better ships each time he returned in one piece.

But why are we even going to the East at all? We have blockade ships guarding all our ports, and spy ships constantly patrolling the rest of the ocean. We haven’t even heard from Allew in over a hundred years! The West lost the city way back when, and that was that. Nobody from that time is even alive anymore. Why should we even care about what they do over there?

Because... Captain Smyth said, drawing out the word, Eventually, they will turn their eyes west.

How do you know that? Why would they want to come for us after all this time has passed? Why haven’t we just invaded them and gotten it over with?

"The top officials know they are looking for some sort of ancient relic. We were able to gather that much from the last messages we received from Allew a hundred years ago. Once we had an idea of what they were looking for, we searched the library for any information we could find. We found some information buried in the library archives about some armor that was believed to be cursed and was being separated. The information about the armor in the scroll was kept vague on purpose, but did implicitly state that two pieces were to be kept on the Western Continent. The council knows the armor is on the Western Continent, but hasn’t been able to figure out where it is. Too much time has passed. Once Sart and Selene search their land and are convinced the armor isn’t over there, they will come for us.

We haven’t invaded that continent because we can’t. You know there is no place except Allew to land on that continent. The number of ships and people we would need would be astronomical. We would lose hundreds before we even got anyone to shore, then fighting into the city... it just wouldn’t work. We need to find a way to land troops without being attacked while we do it.

Kit dry heaved over the side once more. There was nothing left to come out, but he couldn’t stop himself. The taste of bile filled his mouth. His usually unkempt sandy brown hair was lying limp on his head in the humid ocean air, and his mage robes hung loosely from his tall, lanky frame. He had never been very muscular, and the fact that he couldn’t keep much food down on this trip didn’t improve his physique. His thoughts drifted back home to Azure Bay where his girlfriend Molly was waiting for him. After this trip he would be promoted to the top of his guild, one position below the guildmaster. Once he earned that promotion, he would be able to afford a ring, and he could propose at last. That was really the only reason he’d come on this trip. He was happy with his place in the guild and would’ve been fine where he was. He needed the extra money for a ring though, and that meant he had to be on this ship in the middle of the ocean.

He thought back to the first time he met Molly. It must’ve been about fifteen years earlier, when he was still a relative newcomer to the whole guild system.

First, they had tried to see how he would fare as a warrior in the knight’s guild. They had put heavy plate armor on his five-year-old frame, and he had folded like a house of cards. When he finally managed to pull himself up and they handed him a sword, he fell over again. That was the end of his chances in the knight’s guild.

Next, they tried him for the archers. He was able to hold the bow without falling over, but he lacked the strength to pull the arrow back far enough to shoot the way they wanted. Everyone else hit the target with their arrow. His fell woefully short and usually settled harmlessly in the grass several yards away.

Finally, they decided to try his luck as a mage. Normally anyone showing a hint of magical talent would have tried out for the mage’s guild first, but his lackluster ability to create showers of sparks out of thin air was hardly anything to write home about. The guildmasters hadn’t been very impressed at the time, but nevertheless they agreed that the mage’s guild was the best place for him.

He had been in the mage’s guild for a year when he saw Molly in the group of kids being divided into guilds. Normally, all the kids stood around, nervous and unsure what to do. Some wanted to be in certain guilds like their parents, and some cried and want to go home. Molly however, had drawn a crowd of kids around her and was putting on a miniature fireworks display. She had sparks popping and exploding in the air all around her, making the kids forget about their current situation. When the guildmasters saw her display they immediately assigned her to the mage’s guild without even having her try out, making her something of a celebrity.

The next day in practice, Kit had been perfecting his firewall spell—creating a wall of flame several feet long—when Molly came along and doused it with a water spell she had just learned. She had said oops like it was an accident, and apologized in an almost too sincere way, but from that day on, she and Kit had a rivalry, each one doing anything they could to one-up the other one. The competition had driven them to be the best two mages in the guild.

Their rivalry culminated one afternoon several years later when guildmasters from Opal Bay were in town visiting. The mage’s guild had been selected to put on an exhibition of their skills, and Kit was up doing a display of his latest learned spells when Molly started interfering from the sidelines. His spells would start out right and then she would cast a spell to ruin his. He called her out in the middle of the exhibition and they had a duel right there. Magic spells were flying every which way, causing everyone gathered to run in fright. Neither one had been able to gain the upper hand in the duel, and it had ended in a tie with both of them out of energy and panting on the ground.

When they were finally done, the entire area for the exhibitions had been destroyed. They were hauled before the guild council and almost expelled from the guild and banned from practicing magic, which meant they would’ve each lost a hand. This was the worst punishment they could get, and the one most feared by mages. In the end though, they were spared that fate and instead forced to spend a month in jail, together.

During the month in prison they were forced to spend every waking moment with one another, from mealtime, to recreation, even showering. They were banned from using magic, lest they lose their hands. When they were released, their rank in the guild was restored and they were free to pick up their lives where they had left off. They had grown fond of each other in prison though, and instead of a rivalry, they formed a relationship that eventually blossomed to their current state, with Kit planning to propose.

I hope you’re almost done daydreaming, Captain Smyth said, waking Kit from his reverie. "We are nearing the zone of eternal twilight. You know, you really should be glad they put you on my ship. This is my sixth scouting run, and I haven’t lost a ship yet. They claim this new ship, Mermaid’s Kiss, is designed to be the fastest ship in the world, and you’re on her."

Yes, yes, you’ve told me that six times already, Kit muttered under his breath so the captain couldn’t hear him. More loudly he asked, So tell me about this eternal twilight thing again. How does this work?

"Nobody knows ‘cept those two evil sorcerers in their tower. A few years after the loss of Allew, the moon suddenly disappeared from the night sky, and all the tides stopped. Our scouts discovered that when they crossed a certain point in the ocean, everything got foggy and dark. When they came out of the fog, Allew was in sight, with the moon hanging low in the sky right over the city. It has been there ever since.

There is a tall tower rising out of the middle of the city, and the moon is directly above that tower. The moon never moves, and the sun never rises. It’s an eternal twilight. We really don’t know anything else, because we always end up being attacked by catapult fire from the city and being forced to retreat. You’re here to protect us from the catapult fire while we scout the shore for any changes that would make an invasion easier.

At that moment a thick fog appeared seemingly out of nowhere and quickly enveloped the ship in a suffocating white shroud. The entire crew became silent in the fog, and the only sound was the soft splash of water and the creaking of the boards on the wooden ship. The minutes ticked by, and as quickly as it had appeared, the fog vanished. The ship was again sailing on calm seas, only now in an eerie half-light.

The full moon hung low in the sky, just as Captain Smyth had said. There were fires visibly burning on top of the walls of the city, and a bright light shone from the top of a tall tower in the center of town.

Dark storm clouds gathered above them, turning the sky an inky black. A voice thundered from the towering mass above them, Captain Smyth, you’ve returned with a new mage, I see. When will you learn? Did you tell him what happened to the last mage?

Kit shot the captain a questioning look but didn’t say anything. The captain spoke up, Sart, let’s cut the crap! We go through this every year. You mock me and then fire your catapults. We just want to talk to you. We will still accept your unconditional surrender for mass murder and treason.

The waves became rough and rocked the boat as laughter erupted from the clouds. A female voice took over as the laughter faded into the background, "You’ll have to forgive Sart for not being able to talk, he’s laughing so hard he can’t catch his breath. This always seems to happen when he talks with you, Captain. It’s still funny after all these years. But really, you humans are arrogant pricks, aren’t you? It’s no wonder Sart wants nothing to do with you. You’ve invaded our territory yet again, as you’ve been doing for a hundred years, and then call for us to surrender? You’re violating our borders yet again, after we’ve done nothing to you. That all changes tonight!" She started laughing a chilling laugh that faded out, and then everything went silent.

Be prepared for the catapult fire boy! Captain Smyth called to Kit, This is when it usually begins.

Kit walked to the bow of the ship, ready to deflect any flying boulders, but nothing came. As the clouds broke up overhead, letting the eerie twilight resume, he saw why. Coming at them out of the shadows, full sail, was a fleet of orc warships. There were at least a dozen they could see, the hulls painted black with dragons carved into the prows, and they slipped swiftly through the water toward the Mermaid’s Kiss.

Hard to port! Captain Smyth called. The words had barely left his mouth when Kit felt the entire ship turn sharply. The turn wasn’t fast enough, though, and a volley of flaming harpoons was launched from the leading ships of the orc fleet toward the exposed broadside of the ship.

Kit was momentarily stunned as he watched the harpoons, in seeming slow motion, arcing through the air toward the hull of their ship.

Kit, now! Captain Smyth shouted.

Kit snapped out of his stupor and waved his hands, using a funnel of wind to deflect the harpoons harmlessly into the water.

The Mermaid’s Kiss completed her turn, and Kit was continuing to deflect the harpoons, when a blue bolt of lightning issued forth from the top of the tower. The lightning struck the rudder with a blinding flash and a loud bang. They were at full sail and the ship was moving, but without the rudder they had no control. They didn’t have much time to worry about the damage, though—a fireball was issuing forth from the tower straight at their mainsail.

Kit managed to create a spout of water in front of the fireball to block it, but while his attention was on that, he was unable to block the new volley of flaming harpoons that had issued forth from the orc ships. There was a loud hiss as the fireball collided with the spout of water, and an even louder thunk when the harpoons embedded themselves in the hull of the ship a second later.

Dammit Kit, what are you doing? Captain Smyth shouted as the harpoons hit their mark.

Saving your ship! If the sails were gone we wouldn’t be going anywhere! We can cut the lines on the harpoons easily enough! Kit shouted, furious his judgment was being questioned. He ran aft and used a fireball spell to cut the ropes on the harpoons from their ship. Even as the ropes burned and fell away, Kit noticed the flaming harpoons lodged in the hull were still flaming. The ocean water splashing on the ship wasn’t dousing them. He tried a water spell and dropped gallons of water on the flames—they sputtered and stopped spreading for a moment, but did not go out.

Chapter Two

Kit turned to alert the captain to the new problem as the ship plunged into the thick fog separating the rest of