Dragonhold (Book 2) Read online

  Dragonhold

  Book Two of The Artifacts of Power trilogy

  by Brian Rathbone

  Edited by Andrea Howe

  bluefalconediting.com

  Cover illustration by T-Rex Studios

  t-rexstudios.com

  Copyright © 2015 White Wolf Press, LLC

  Chapter 1

  There will never be another you. We must cherish the one we have.

  --Brother Vaughn, Cathuran monk

  * * *

  There were no more secrets. Intertwined souls raced along woven gossamer threads leading back to their bodies. In synchronicity Catrin Volker and Allette Kilbor moved through combined will. Fear and exhilaration flooded the irrepressible bond between them. With time passed the duality. Merging into a single energetic force, threaded together like a glittering tapestry, they soared.

  The journey back to the Godfist was not an easy one. The wavering cord of energy guiding them danced and grew difficult to follow. Panic and fear permeated the energy Brother Vaughn and those guarding their bodies sent. It was an experience Catrin found familiar; astral travel was by its very nature a dangerous endeavor. Part of her hoped never to leave her body again, but first she had to survive long enough to make it back. The world moved beneath them at a speed of its own choosing. Long before the Godfist came into view, fatigue whittled away at her resolve. Ripples of anxiety washed between the nearly ubiquitous souls of Allette and Catrin, threatening to overwhelm them both. Each drew strength from the other, and the bond grew.

  Engulfed within towering plasma walls that shimmered before them, Dragonhold was visible from a great distance and promised a price for entry. Though they approached in a form other than physical, the luminous shield reached out with bluish green fire, burning and biting deep. Striking the shield was like being slapped then doused with frigid water. Once within, there was no relief. Perhaps they should have seen it coming, but neither was prepared for their intertwined souls to suddenly and violently separate. Just before the ropy light beam reached Dragonhold's stone walls, the woven tendrils were torn apart, each entering the hold through one of the two holes leading back to their bodies.

  Slamming back into her physical form with percussive force, Catrin screamed. Numb fingers relaxed and Koe fell onto a pillow someone had placed there. Before anyone else could move, Brother Vaughn reached down and grabbed the cat figurine. It was chalky white and looked as if it might crumble within his grip. Catrin wanted to warn him of the danger Allette posed, to take her precious Koe back from him, but her body would not respond. At least the screaming had subsided. In its place came a cloud cat's warning growls and the sound of dragons in the hall--angry, determined dragons.

  You are safe, Kyrien said in Catrin's mind, which made her head hurt. Looking to her right made it worse. Allette Kilbor sat, still recovering from her first experience with astral travel. It would take her longer to recover than Catrin would require. This might be her only chance to kill the Black Queen, and Catrin reached for the blade at her belt. Her fingers refused to grip the handle firmly, and the blade danced, breaking free, her hand trembling. Brother Vaughn gasped, and the cloud cat Rastas flattened his ears. Then Catrin's eyes met Allette's. Between them passed understanding. Catrin's will was shattered. This girl had a noble, if broken, heart. Allette could not be blamed for what had occurred. Other forces were at play, threats far more dangerous than Allette. Newfound knowledge, acquired while melding with the other woman, gave reason for fear.

  The Black Queen stirred and Catrin flinched. Brother Vaughn snatched the knife from the pillow. Catrin barely noticed; her eyes were locked with Allette's.

  "Can we kill each other later?" the Black Queen asked. "My head hurts."

  Deep rumbles from the hall moved closer. The feral queen would tear down the hold to get to Allette. In the hall between the viewing chamber and the God's Eye waited Kyrien, equally determined. At either woman's command, the wrath of dragons could be unleashed. The thought made Catrin shiver. Kyrien's mind was his own, and he would do anything to protect her. She was all he had left.

  Brother Vaughn brought them both cool water and steaming broth. Allette waved them off, but Catrin knew better. Sipping it, she refreshed herself. Though Catrin's memories and knowledge might not be foremost in Allette's mind, the Black Queen soon reconsidered and accepted what the monk offered.

  Sinjin reached his mother's side. "Are you well?" he asked. At her nod, he continued. "What did you learn? Where have the regal dragons gone?"

  After two more sips of water, Catrin cleared her throat. "Durin and the Drakon are well . . . for now." Part of her wanted to guard her words. Adapting to this new situation proved difficult. Allette knew everything she knew. Secrets would remain hidden at Allette's discretion. The lack of control twisted Catrin's guts. "I sent them into the Black Spike."

  Sinjin gaped in return.

  "We sent them," Allette said.

  Catrin didn't argue the point. "Strom, Osbourne, and Durin are on a quest to . . ."

  "To find a way to destroy me and Trinda and the Fifth Magic," Allette finished for Catrin, no humor in her words.

  Catrin nodded the admission. Sinjin and Brother Vaughn exchanged confused glances.

  "It would seem simultaneous astral travel from this viewing chamber creates an experience very different from traveling alone."

  "In what way?" Brother Vaughn asked before Catrin could continue.

  "Our souls became entwined," Allette said. "The Herald knows my every secret."

  "And the Black Queen, mine," Catrin said.

  After a dangerous silence, Allette smiled. "We'll eventually have to kill each other, but now is not the time. As I mentioned before, my head hurts. Do you have any humrus root?"

  All the while, Rastas watched Catrin with distrust. Seeing the cloud cat through Allette's eyes and experiences, she smiled. Confused, the cat whined and backed away.

  "Perhaps we should get you back to your quarters," Sinjin said, his eyes never leaving Allette, save once to glance at the doorway. The feral queen's roar, no longer dampened, echoed loudly. The time the defensive blockage had afforded them was alarmingly brief.

  "Where's Trinda?" Catrin asked.

  "We need to kill her too," Allette said.

  Sinjin looked at Brother Vaughn before answering. "She left."

  Catrin simply nodded. Allette made an unflattering sound.

  "Allette can have the upper keep and the God's Eye," Catrin said. "I wish to move deeper into the hold."

  The Black Queen's eyes narrowed.

  "Will your dragon let us pass?" Sinjin asked Allette.

  "No," Allette said, her face expressionless. "Go to the God's Eye, or surely you will die."

  Catrin nodded. With Sinjin's aid, she stood more quickly than she should have, and her head swam. Allette wore a shrewd smile; the cloud cat tried to curl up in her lap but spilled over on all sides.

  "Do you accept these terms?" Catrin asked before Sinjin could lead her away.

  "I do," Allette said with a playful glint in her eye. "For now our goals are the same. When that ceases to be the case . . ." The Black Queen shrugged and showed a sad but knowing smile.

  "There's always a way to find peace," Brother Vaughn said. The words sounded hollow and generated no response.

  "Let's go," Sinjin said, pulling on Catrin's arm. This time she let him lead her back into the hall. Brother Vaughn preceded them, Koe in hand, and Catrin watched his every step, worried he would trip and let the carving fall to the stone while in its most fragile state. Trusting others with her fate was not something Catrin was comfortable with.

  "May I have Koe," Catrin asked Brother Vaughn, though it did not come out as a question. The Cathuran monk n
odded and handed the carving to Catrin with great care, making her feel guilty for doubting him. Still, she felt better having Koe back in her hands. Once it was in her pocket, she caressed the stone, trying to give it back energy as it had done for her so many times.

  She'd half expected Allette to make a grab for the dragon ore carving, but it would have been a hollow prize. With no more energy coming into the hold to charge the stone, it could forever remain fragile and inert. Catrin pushed that vision from her mind. The herald globe in Brother Vaughn's hand stood as a constant reminder. It, too, would soon cease to shine. Trinda had overcharged it, making it a viable weapon, but over time the light dimmed. When used as a weapon, the energy served to protect the glass. When the globe contained less of a charge, Catrin had her doubts regarding its durability. Having no way to tell just when delicate glass became a deadly weapon, she watched Brother Vaughn walk, hoping he wouldn't stumble and fall.

  Deep growls changed the air pressure in the hall and made Catrin's ears hurt. The group moved toward the God's Eye at a brisk pace. Kyrien filled much of the hall ahead and walked toward the water. Having a feral dragon at her back raised Catrin's hackles. The realization of her own powerlessness set in. Koe had been drained. Still Catrin fingered the statuette, and she wondered if the surface wasn't just the slightest bit smoother than it had been.

  Ahead, Kyrien slipped into the God's Eye as silently as a dragon of his size could, and only when Catrin had walked onto his back did she feel safe. She'd grown so accustomed to limitless power that its absence made her feel weak and vulnerable. Allette felt the same, and Trinda likely did as well. The child queen had no one to blame but herself, yet Catrin still managed to feel compassion. Her hands trembled.

  No barges moved within the God's Eye; those who wanted to join Catrin would need to walk onto a dragon's back. It wasn't something a person did without considering alternatives. Even Sinjin hesitated.

  "You've been invited," Catrin said. "Come."

  With cautious steps, Brother Vaughn, Sinjin, Kendra, Kenward, Sevellon, and the others climbed atop Kyrien's back. Unlike the barges, the dragon's mass did not shift with their movements. And somehow he managed to swim while keeping the section of his back on which they stood perfectly still. To the observer, it must have appeared to have been magic. Eyes in the darkness watched, and Catrin wondered once again what game the child queen played. "Why did Trinda leave the viewing chambers?" she asked as they glided toward the enormous cavern's far wall.

  "Don't know," Brother Vaughn said.

  Kendra explained, "We were too busy chanting and taking turns screaming at you to tell you Koe was almost depleted."

  "And that you were going to die." Sinjin nodded emphatically.

  Catrin shook her head. "Astral travel is not for the delicate."

  "Do you share Allette's memories?" Kenward asked after a long silence. "I mean, do you know what happened to her?"

  Meeting her friend's eyes, Catrin nodded.

  * * *

  Durin took a tentative step. Each one was more difficult than the last. Every bit of his experience told him to get out of this unnatural place. Strom and Osbourne continuing onward kept him from fleeing. The steep entry stair ended at a landing that opened into the creepiest place Durin had ever seen. Outside light streamed in through myriad openings in the rock walls. The result was a crisscrossing pattern of light that left much of the chamber floor in darkness. Enough was visible to see writing carved into the stone.

  Osbourne knelt with the amber figurine they had found atop the Black Spike and chased back the shadows with its light. The floor was a marvel consisting of perfectly flat tiles melded together along sometimes jagged, haphazard lines. Despite the irregular shapes, there was a distinct beauty to the formations. Even more remarkable was the writing covering every stone. It was as if someone had written a massive epic using a chisel. The runes were foreign, but their elegant form and embellishments made it clear it was as much art as writing. Nearby stones, adorned with sentences carved in a spiral pattern, further bore this out.

  Near the center of the room waited a circular depression. Strom stepped closer, Osbourne and Durin moving with him, not wanting to be left in even partial darkness. As they approached a stairway, the writings on the tiles took more sinister forms. Durin had to credit the author for conveying threats even though Durin didn't understand the words themselves. Runes laid out in the form of fierce creatures grew more and more frequent until they reached the stair. There, runes formed images of dragons surrounding a portal into darkness, portraying more varieties of winged serpent than were known to exist.

  "Not the most inviting place," Osbourne said.

  Strom shook his head.

  "I don't want to go in there," Durin admitted.

  "Neither do we," Strom said. "But the dragons don't appear to be coming back for us. And short of climbing down the outside of this thing and swimming home, we don't have much choice. I know one thing, though: when I get back to my forge, I'm going to make a pair of steel-shod gloves."

  "What for?" Osbourne asked.

  "Because I don't want to punch a dragon with my bare fists." With that statement, Strom took a deep breath and the first step. Circular, steep, and tight, the stair was daunting. No railings provided safety, and there was nothing to indicate how deep the winding steps went. Given the Black Spike's height, no one expected a short climb. Not knowing the exact nature of the amber figurine, they had no idea how long it would continue to emit light, making the descent even more nerve wracking.

  Never had Durin felt so helpless and doomed. "And I thought carrying buckets of dirty water was bad."

  Shaking his head, Strom continued downward and almost immediately stumbled. Feeling guilty for distracting the smith, Durin cursed himself, but then a grinding sound made him look back. Cold stone closed over the entrance, blotting out the remaining natural light. They were trapped. Or perhaps entombed would be more accurate, Durin thought.

  Drawing deep breaths, Strom and Osbourne looked at each other. Durin was afraid to speak. He hoped they would say something to make death less certain. No words came. Continuing into the darkness had been folly before, but now it appeared closer to inescapable madness. Under the shadow of fate and the weight of black stone, they continued.

  The lower they climbed, the clearer the danger became. No landings emerged from the darkness. The narrow stair spiraled into the depths as if endless. Protruding from the outer wall, it was all that kept them from being swallowed. Vertigo threatened Durin's sanity, and he clung to the outside wall. Neatly mated stones didn't provide much grip, but it comforted Durin at least in some small measure.

  "I need to rest my knee," Strom announced without warning. Durin empathized; his feet felt as if he'd been dropping rocks on them. Sitting next to Osbourne, they pressed themselves against the stone as far from the gaping chasm as possible.

  "We don't even know what we've been sent after," Strom said. "How are we supposed to know what to do?"

  "Look on the sunny side," Osbourne said. "So far the choices have been few, so chances are we're still on the right track."

  The statement failed to make Durin feel any better.

  "I wish we had more light," Strom said, an absent-minded note in his voice. Durin jumped when the figurine glowed more brightly in response to Strom's wish. Shielding his eyes against the blinding light, Durin caught a dizzying glimpse of what lay below. Morbid fascination drew him closer to the edge, they were but a fraction of the way down based on what he could see. The dread chasm continued into the darkness for no one knew how far. "Not that much," Strom whispered. Gradually the light dimmed. None of them spoke for some time. "I don't know what just happened there," he finally said.

  "You've talents, my friend," Osbourne said. Strom made no response. "You don't have to want gifts to receive them. If Catrin taught me anything, she taught me that."

  "Thanks," Strom said. The light shone just a bit brighter.

  Osbourne
looked thoughtful. "Keeping the light only as bright as we need it is probably a good idea."

  "I'll do my best to manage it." Strom half mumbled, seemingly embarrassed by Istra's touch.

  "I'm glad you're here, Strom," Durin said, hoping to bolster the man's purpose, if not his confidence. Deeper they moved into the Black Spike.

  * * *

  "Why concede the upper hold to Allette?" Brother Vaughn asked Catrin as they walked deeper into the hold. Kyrien couldn't fit through some of the more narrow halls and stayed back to guard the entrance to the God's Eye. For a time, they wouldn't have to worry about attacks from behind. The truces were tenuous at best, and Sinjin did what he could to keep up with the rest.

  Chase moved to the fore and forced Catrin to stop. "What is it we're after?" he asked. "I know you have reasons for keeping secrets, but it would be nice to at least understand our goal."

  "I don't mean to hide things from you," Catrin said. "I want to find Trinda's library and read the passages that caused her to initiate this nightmare."

  "And if we run into her and her guards?"

  "We do our best to get what we want peacefully. If that fails . . ." Catrin shrugged.

  Chase nodded. He and Morif were the only trained soldiers among the group. The rest were poorly armed and wouldn't be much help in a fight. Catrin, though deprived of her power, was still at least a capable fighter. Sinjin shared only some of her prowess. Though not all of them were handy in a fight, some within their group possessed other useful skills. When they reached the first junction, Catrin faltered. Sevellon stepped up to her side and met her eyes. Without saying a word, he looked to the left and nodded. Sinjin wasn't certain his mother would take directions from a known thief, but she surprised him by wordlessly turning left. At several more junctions, Catrin allowed Sevellon to guide the way. Sinjin was beginning to suspect they were hopelessly lost, but then they came upon a hall flanked by guards. Catrin stepped in front of the thief and approached those posted.