Mairwen could tell without the translation that things were not going well with the dragons. Before the magical creatures attacked--for at this rate there was no doubt in her head that they would-- the humans needed to find the Dragon Heir. The Princess considered looking for the egg herself, but then she got an idea.Slipping past Junayd, who was arguing with Alaron, Mairwen tiptoed down the stairs to find a quiet, secluded spot. When she was alone, the beautiful girl stroked the Seeker around her neck. The fairy felt cool to her touch."I wish I could find the Queen's Egg." She whispered.The chain vibrated for a moment, but then nothing happened. The small pixie remained in place at the girl's neck."Perhaps the egg has hatched. Maybe I should try a different request. I wish I could find the baby dragon." For a second time, the chain seemed to register her plea but did not comply.That could only mean one thing. She was not ever meant to find the egg. Her countenance fell in disapp
Having been given her urgent task, Brinn rushed from the sky bridge to reach the closest bell in its tower. Although she saw Devrim and Junayd staring in horror at the destruction made by the dragons behind her, the prince and princess were nowhere to be found.'Those kids!' the elf thought bitterly. 'I will have to find that sneaky prince and princess as soon as we sound the alarm.' Using her wind magic, she leapt from one tower to the next at a frightening speed.There were dragons clearly visible in the air, and she could smell the stench of gnomes. Hiding her magic from humans was the least of Brinn's problems.The guard looked at her in disbelief as Brinn sailed into the tower from an adjacent one. "Don't just gawk, you fool! Sound the alarm. We need to evacuate!"They turned and watched in horror as a dragon rammed into the tower from which the elf had just come. The large cylinder crumpled under the sheer force.Snapped from his shock, the soldier nodded. He immediately pulled
A screech from below the bridge rang out. "Liar! Thief!" the Dragon Queen wailed.Aurora felt the stone crumble around her feet as Deragona attacked them from below. Thanks to Gandr's last minute tug, both she and Zan barely missed the razor sharp jaws of the ferocious beast.Unfortunately they were pulled away from the safety of the tower. The only thing waiting for them was air and the ground far below.The Empress looked desperately for her husband. She wanted him to be the last thing that she saw before death took her. Their eyes locked for a second and she managed to give him an encouraging smile. 'Take care of yourself!' the woman wanted to scream.As Aurora readied herself to be shattered on the earth back first, everything went dark. Instead of hitting her shoulders on the ground, gravity shifted such that her feet found purchase. But she was no longer at the base of the castle. At least, the Empress did not think she was."What happened?" Aurora asked."I do not know.""I thi
Cafer and Baak watched from a safe distance at the top of a nearby building as the dragons approached. The former councilman and gnome king passed back and forth a magical object that, like Renat's spyglass, allowed them to see a great distance, but also allowed them to hear what they were viewing.Having paid the owner of the dwelling well, they sat on two cushioned seats as they watched the show."How wonderful is this!" Baak gloated. "The dragons will do all the work for us. We will just pick up all the pieces of this broken Empire and they will have to thank us for it!""Do not get overconfident, Your Majesty," Cafer responded smoothly. He was not superstitious, but the old gnome knew that caution was necessary where humans were involved."I will not count my egg before it hatches," the king said glibly. "Ha! I made a joke. No one appreciates my wit.""You are very funny, my king," Cafer answered mechanically. His full attention was focused on the tower where he could see the roya
Nurlan knew he was out of time when he heard the first of the towers collapse. He could hear the rumbling that only the sound of collapsing stone could make. But he could not give up. Nurlan was determined to find the dragons' egg. After he had gathered a few other soldiers to help, they had looked systematically through the halls starting with the west wing, but the rooms were far too numerous.Although the general hoped that the egg would be obvious, it could just as easily be hidden beneath any blanket or basket. This made things far more difficult. It was worse than looking for a needle in a haystack. He was looking for an egg in a palace.Nurlan entered the hundredth room--give or take--and pulled open every cabinet and uncovered every bed. The Dragon Heir was not there. When the wall next to him crumbled away inside of an angry dragon's claws, Nurlan realized he needed a better tactic. "Where would that fiendish gnome plan to hide a treasure like an egg?" he mused.Of course! Th
Renat's vision was fuzzy and his body hurt all over. He thought for sure he would die when he saw the blast ball roll off the shelf and begin to fall. If not for breaking the fireproof jelly ball above his head and diving below the brown mass of solid chocolate rock, he never would have survived. Yet, here he was with the world beginning to come back into focus. He was in pain and covered in slippery clear jelly, but at least he was alive. Renat blinked a few times while staring at the sky. There were no dragons anymore. That had to be a good sign. When he turned his head, he spotted the most beautiful blue eyes of the woman he loved, yet her face seemed... wrong. Perhaps she was a mirage. "Mairwen?" he asked carefully. "And who might this be?" Cafer leaned over the scientist and came into the boy's field of vision. Although Renat had never seen the gnome before, he instinctively did not like him. The tall boy unconsciously scowled, which made the gnome lift his eyebrows in challen
Devrim and his band of servants, noblemen and soldiers pushed through the wall to escape the gnomic and dragon invasion. The grey-eyed man was second-guessing his decision to leave his son and the elven spymaster behind, but there was little time to lose. If Brinn and Alaron were unsuccessful at stalling the enemy, the gnomes would catch them very soon.Ahead of the humans was the Great River. It ran from the north, wound through the city of Valiant, and continued southward. Much of the world's trade came along that river, and so ships were often spotted in the current. But the ships that Devrim saw just now were not trade ships."Pirates!" Junayd screamed."Do not look at their leader!" Devrim ordered. He turned to Mairwen and Eira. "Do you both have your glasses?" he asked as he pulled out his own pair of orange-tinted lenses.Eira slipped on her pair while Mairwen groped for the pocket in her dress. She pulled out the frames and another wave of grief washed over her. Renat had made
"I pledge my allegiance and devotion to the future Emperor Alaron. May he reign forever! Glory to the Emperor," the servant pressed his face to the floor, obviously trembling.He was one in a long line of castle staff that wanted to protect his life. Cafer had given the captured humans an ultimatum: pledge their undying allegiance to the new Emperor and keep their job or be put into prison. Most chose option one.At first Alaron liked the attention. He was able to look down from his throne and feel superior as each subject begged his favor. It was empowering. 'I could get used to this,' he chuckled inwardly. Over time, though, the task became tedious. Like any teenager, his mind began to drift to other things.Alaron wondered how Mairwen was doing. Had he made the right call in letting her go? Brinn had not given him a lot of choice, but he hoped that the princess would return on her own when she realized what a great ruler he was. 'She cannot stay away forever,' he comforted himself.