The dragons, p.18
The Dragons, page 18
part #2 of The Onis Chronicles Series
Blinking, she looked around at the others, who were recovering from the dust storm, oblivious to what she had just experienced. Turning her attention back to the table, she jerked her hand away from it.
Revealed beneath the dust was a small circle carved into the stone at each point. Wrapping around each circle were five lines, which then extended towards the middle of the cross, swirling around a fifth carved circle at its center. Each of the circles was only the size of a grape, but the encompassing lines made them prominent.
With the image flashes fresh in her mind, she studied the circular dips in its stone surface; their shape, their size, the connection between them, and then it hit her.
“The stones,” Laila murmured. Raising her eyes, she gaped at the others. “The stones!” she repeated fervently. “Davion, hand me the dragon stones!”
Releasing the leather pouch from his belt, Davion poured the four dragon stones into his palm and held them out for Laila, who grabbed them eagerly. Pawing through them, she handed him back the red one with orange flames; the fire stone.
‘Laila, I don’t like this,’ Turathyl said, alarmed, having been watching through her mind.
Ignoring the dragon, she hurriedly went to Salyaman and handed him the gold stone with the burnt-orange cracks; the earth stone. Glondora excitedly dashed toward Laila, realizing what she was intending, and held out her hand expectantly. Smiling at her enthusiasm, Laila placed the rippled stone with blue and green waves into her palm; the water stone.
“What ye be doin’, lass?” Hort shouted from his spot by the entrance, afraid to go any further in, an uneasy feeling holding him back. “Glondy, give ‘er the stone back! Ye and me can wait out ‘ere!”
“Sorry, husband, but I canna’ do that,” Glondora replied firmly. “Now, where be the water again?”
Circling the table, Salyaman indicated where each of the elements was etched into the stone cross. In clockwise order, they read “Earth, Air, Fire,” and “Water.”
While the others stood at their respected ends of the cross, Laila approached Nikolean with the final stone.
“Are you sure we should be doing this?” Nikolean asked her quietly, drawing intimately near her.
Looking up into his enchanting-red eyes, the blood rushed to her cheeks as she smiled coyly and replied, “Completely.” Then she took his hand with hers, her fingers tingling against his warm skin as she pressed the white stone with silver swirls into his palm; the air stone.
“Laila, I’m not sure this is a good idea,” Davion said nervously, standing before his spot at the table. “We have no idea what will happen.”
“Me boy’s right!” Hort declared. “Ye all ‘ave lost yer ‘eads! Let us leave now ‘fore ye do somethin’ ye’ll regret! Please, Glondy. Ye dunna’ know what yer doin’!”
“Maybe so,” Glondora replied, “But methinks there be only one way ta find out then.” Holding up her stone toward the table, she prepared to place it in the circle.
“Not yet, Glondora,” Salyaman said, stopping her. “Lady Laila, are you certain about this?”
Acknowledging the fear in the eyes of the others, she gave them a reassuring smile. “Ever since before I left my home, something has been pulling at me. It is what brought me to Davion and to all of you. I can’t explain what the reason is behind any of it, but I know we are supposed to be here, that everything has been leading us to this point.”
“That is enough reason for me,” Nikolean said.
“But do you know what will happen to us?” Davion asked, concerned.
Laila shook her head, and Davion let out an exaggerated sigh. “Well, if we’re going to do this,” he said, “then I suggest we all place them at the same time.”
“I as well,” Salyaman stated, and the others nodded their agreement.
‘Please be careful,’ Laila heard Turathyl say, feeling dismayed.
There was a nervous excitement filling the room, but they all seemed intrigued enough that they wanted to do this, although hesitant. Hort held his place, trying his best not to interfere, even though he was extremely concerned for Glondora and Davion.
Laila stood back, observing them all, and rubbed her hands together enthusiastically as she asked, “Is everyone ready?”
They all nodded in response, afraid to speak.
“GO!” she hollered, and the four of them each laid their stones carefully in the circles before them, and then…
Nothing.
Nothing happened.
They looked at each other confused, Laila most of all. Glondora adjusted her stone, thinking that perhaps it wasn’t in there just right.
“I don’t understand,” Laila said disappointedly, dropping her hands to her sides. “They should be glowing or something.”
Pressing the heel of her hand against her temple, her fingers clawed in her hair, she tried to remember the vision, realizing they must have missed something.
“Laila, there is a fifth circle,” Salyaman pointed out, looking at the center of the cross.
“Of course!” she exclaimed, overly eager, startling the others. “You don’t suppose…?” Looking back to Davion, she motioned to the pouch with the fifth stone they were given from Lord Kilgar.
“Norn Mornder?” Davion asked rhetorically. “We can try it. I will place it there for you.” He smiled at her, the shifty type of smile between two friends sharing a secret. Removing the perfect black stone from the pouch, he took it to the middle of the table. Laila averted her eyes from it, trying to get the chill of its touch out of her mind.
When Davion placed Norn Mornder in the center, again, nothing happened, and he retook his place at the fire end of the table.
“Well, that be a relief!” Hort sighed, contented.
Frustrated, Laila looked at the center of the table to Norn Mornder, and her eyes instantly locked on to it. She felt it jolt her entire body as it wrapped around her mind, the same as when she had been entranced by looking into Aeris’s eyes, and she shivered at the likeness. Her heart palpitated, her breathing stopped, and she felt frozen in place and time.
Everyone watching, none realized at first what was happening, thinking Laila was just staring upon the stone. However, in the next moment, they knew something was amiss. Laila’s eyes became clouded over until they went completely dark and hazed, appearing like two black gaping holes.
“Ma Kyrash!” Davion said in alarm. “Laila?! Laila, what’s happening?!”
The others tried calling her name as well, but she could not hear them. She only heard the whispers, loud in her ears now, as her body moved of its own accord toward Norn Mornder. No one knew what to do. Nikolean was about to leave his spot to try and break her trance, but before he could move, Laila began to speak.
The language of the ancients spilled out of the Omi Méa’s mouth, but in a voice that was not her own. Before anyone could react, they too began to speak the same words, words unknown to most of them, in voices that were not theirs. Their feet were plastered to the floor where they stood, and their arms unwillingly stretched out toward one another, forming a circle around the Omi Méa as they chanted the strange words. Salyaman knew they were speaking the verse he saw engraved around the table, but he no longer had control. He and the others were onlookers to their own bodies and actions, unable to do anything to stop it.
Hort hollered and yelled, panicking about what was going on. He forced himself to enter the temple and tried to pull Glondora away, to wake her up, but he could not budge her. The dragon roared frantically, shaking the rubble of the city, afraid of what was happening, yet unsure if she should stop it.
The dragon stones began to glow brilliantly in front of each group member, except for Norn Mornder. From the Black Death stone came forth a dark and sinister fog of the phantom realm. Then, the table’s engraved lines also glowed a bright blue, connecting the stones to one another as they continued their chant. Laila, standing next to the center, raised her hands above her head, her chanting intensifying, and the others did the same, irresistibly following her command. Along with each of the stones, the elf maiden slowly began to levitate, the spirits holding them, wrapping around them.
Hobbling back to the entrance, Hort grabbed hold of the doorway when a great gale began to blow wildly through the city of rubble and into the temple. He cried out for them, begging them to stop, but no one would hear. The earth shook as Turathyl stamped wildly at the ground outside, feeling helpless as the Dragon’s Eye took over the Omi Méa.
Their chanting grew boisterously loud over the whirring and moaning that was coming from the black smoke as it slowly filled the room. Then, Laila winced her eyes, shaking as she unexpectedly screamed. A brilliant flash of light shot out from her chest like lightning through Norn Mornder and out to each of the four dragon stones. It then continued out, beaming into her four surrounding comrades. They shook at the intensity of the energy pouring into their souls. Suddenly, a resounding BOOM echoed and quaked the temple like an explosion. Laila dropped and collapsed to the floor. All four of her friends at the table went catapulting backward away from it and slammed into the temple walls, falling unconscious to the ground.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Voices
“Baccat! DAVION!” Hort screamed, panicking as he ran to him. “Me boy! Wake up!”
Shaking Davion, who was unresponsive, Hort glanced over to Glondora.
“Me love!” he called, running over to her next and doing the same. No one was moving, and he was terrified that they were all dead, too overwhelmed, and too scared to check. The dragon roaring wildly and shaking the earth with her stomping wasn’t helping him focus. Rocks were breaking free from the temple and clacking to the ground around him.
“DRAGON! YE CUT THAT OUT OR YER GUNNA’ MAKE THE WHOLE PLACE COLLAPSE!!!” he yelled as loud as he could to penetrate the racket she was causing.
Turathyl whined a throaty moan as she stopped quaking the ground and lowered her mighty head, trying to peek through the small entryway, pressing an eye up against the opening.
“Yer blockin’ the light, beast!” Hort hollered at her as he examined Glondora, and the dragon moaned again, pulling away.
To Hort’s relief, he discovered that his wife was still breathing. “Oh, praise Jayenne!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up to the heavens, relieved. Kissing her forehead, he whispered how much he loved her and needed her to wake up.
Without leaving her side, he called back out for Davion several more times, hoping to wake him as well.
“Uncle,” Davion managed to mutter after several minutes while he tried to prop himself up on his elbows. “I’m alright.”
Shortly after, Salyaman and Glondora began to stir, disoriented and hurting from the impact against the temple walls. Even Laila began to wake, rubbing her eyes with her fists, her head filled with a loud ringing from the explosion she deemed had come from within her.
Before she could collect herself, the temple creaked and cracked loudly, then let out a rumbling roar. Laila could feel the ground trembling just before she was being whisked up by someone and carried out swiftly. The others scrambled to escape as well. Still trying to focus, the image of the room a blur, she clenched her eyes at the brightness when they neared the exit. Following the cracking came a loud BANG as they breached through the doorway, immediately followed by a clangorous CRASH as the roof split and crumbled. They jumped clear, diving away while the temple collapsed thunderously behind them, along with most of its walls.
Having been tossed back on the ground outside the temple, Laila slowly opened her eyes again, looking around at the devastation. Her friends were covered in dust while they attempted to get back to their feet, and she felt a warm touch on her arm, the ringing in her ears subsiding.
“Laila, are you injured?” Davion asked her, his voice still a little muffled in her ears.
She looked up into his eyes, bewildered as to what had just happened, and smiled, relieved to see him. “I don’t think so,” she told him. “Thank you.”
“Ye know this be all yer fault, dragon!” Hort huffed. “If ye hadna’ been stompin’ ‘round like that, twoulda’ been fine. Ye nearly got us all killed!”
‘Laila, I am sorry, I was so worried,’ Turathyl told her sincerely. ‘Are you certain you are unharmed?’
Taking a moment to assess herself, Laila noticed some minor scratches but seemed to be intact overall. ‘Yes, it appears so,’ she mind-sent.
“Glondy, ye ‘ad me so scared! What the baccat ‘appened back there?! Does ye feel any different?”
Patting her hands over her body from her shoulders to her thighs, then back up to ensure her bosoms hadn’t been blown off, she smiled at her husband. “Jus’ a little sore tis all.”
Davion held out his hand, and Laila took it appreciatively, allowing him to help her to her feet while she scanned the area. She caught a glimpse of Nikolean’s legs stretched out by Salyaman, who was sitting upright on the ground, blocking the rest of the drow from her view. Noticing his legs weren’t moving, her heart felt like it had jumped up into her throat.
“Does anyone feel any different?” Davion asked.
They all looked disappointedly at each other, shaking their heads.
Staring at Nikolean’s legs, Laila noticed them starting to move. Relief for the drow hit her, but she could not hide her chagrin about the ritual. “So…it was all for nothing,” she said, disheartened.
Salyaman began to stand, clearing Laila’s view to Nikolean, and stated, “It is possible something went wrong during the ritual.”
Nikolean was conscious, praise Jayenne, and rubbing his hand against his head, wincing his eyes in pain.
“Niko,” Laila said, stepping toward him, “are you hurt?”
‘He likely hit his head in the temple,’ Turathyl told her.
Still rubbing his head, the drow muttered, “Yes, probably.”
“Probably?” Glondora asked. “Are ye hurt or ain’t ye?”
Disoriented, he didn’t reply.
Laila went to his side and knelt down. “Here, let me take a look.”
Nikolean raised a hand to stop her from fussing over him. “Don’t waste your strength, my lady. I’m sure it’s just a headache and will pass.”
The drow tried to stand but immediately stumbled and fell back down, his head spinning and throbbing intensely.
‘Stubborn man,’ Turathyl snorted. ‘He’s just trying to act tough to impress you, you know.’
Clasping his hands to his head, Nikolean abruptly shouted, “I am not!”
“What in Ignisar’s Lair ye goin’ on ‘bout, drow?” Hort asked.
“Ye must’ve hit yer ‘ead ‘ard,” Glondora said, approaching him. “If ye wonna’ be lettin’ m’lady ‘ave a look, then at least let me.”
‘That was strange,’ Laila said to Turathyl. ‘I hope he’s alright.’
Turathyl cocked her head at Laila, concerned about the drow’s outburst as well. The dragon then nodded to her, agreeing as she watched Glondora cast her healing over Nikolean’s head.
After she had completed her spell, Nikolean said more stably, “Thank you, Glondy,” and he tried to stand again, successfully this time.
“Well, at least we all be whole and well now,” Glondora said with relief.
“Yes,” Salyaman said, brushing himself off. “We seem to be otherwise unharmed, which is more than can be said for the temple.”
Everyone looked at the pile of rubble that remained, sighing.
Davion approached Laila and took her hand. “Are you sure you’re alright? That was pretty intense back there.”
She nodded and smiled at him reassuringly. “Just disappointed,” she admitted, then gasped, “The stones! They’re still in the temple!”
Nodding to her, Davion said, “I will go find them for you. Don’t worry.”
Laila thanked him as she politely retrieved her hand, and he headed toward the pile of debris that was the temple.
‘I was sure I was being led to this place for a reason,’ she told Turathyl in private. ‘But I guess we’ll never know why now.’ Kicking at some rubble, she strolled over to her dragon and nuzzled into her snout. ‘We’ll start heading to the other side. You should meet us there so you don’t demolish the rest of the buildings by walking with us.’ Laila gave Turathyl a loving pat and stepped back, allowing her space.
As the dragon spread her grand silver and white wings, she assured the elf maiden, ‘I will be watching you.’
Nikolean startled everyone as he grabbed his daggers and held them outward aggressively while shouting, “Who said that?! Who’s there?!” He spun frantically around, searching for an assailant.
“Whoa there, lad!” Glondora yelled, raising her hands, trying to calm him. “Sorry, methought I got it all. Put the knives down, and lemme ‘ave another look at yer ‘ead.”
“Wait!” Laila hollered at them both, a theory manifesting in her mind. ‘Niko, can you hear me?’ she mind-sent inquisitively to him, but he did not respond and continued holding his aggressive stance.
‘I don’t understand,’ she told Turathyl.
‘Perhaps he’s just gone mad,’ the dragon replied, tucking her wings back comfortably against her sides.
Shaking his head back and forth with clenched eyes, the drow cried out, “No…no…no…” While pressing his fists against his temples, still clasping the hilts of his daggers, he declared loudly, “I am not mad!”
